Alone in the World
by Kyubi88
Summary: With no parents, Naruto has been always alone. At the tender age of four, Naruto decides that he does not have to stick around for beatings and harsh treatments of the villagers... but how does the Kyuubi no Youkai fit into the equation?
1. Beginning

Ahh, school's over! hurray! Now I have more time to write! Anyhow, hello everyone, and this is my 2nd fic! Read and enjoy!

Standard Disclaimer: I most certainly do _not_ own Naruto…

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**Alone in the World**

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**Beginning**

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The usually busy streets of Konoha were deathly silent. Many houses could be found as rubbles, and people were commonly found dead through out the streets. Ground-crushing roar could be heard not too far away from destruction, striking fear into all who had ears to hear the howl from hell.

The Nine-tails Fox Demon, Kyuubi no Youkai reaped death across the nation of Fire.

Best of Konoha's elite forces battled the abomination in attempt to hold the line of defense, throwing out everything they had. Numerous jutsus were flying through the air, all in an attempt to just injure the beast in any way. But as always, Kyuubi no Youkai forced the humans to realize just how futile their attempts were in comparison to the evil that was Kyuubi.

It was time to make choices.

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In the office of Yondaime, Arashi stood by the window, holding his only son. He was only a week old, with bright sunny orange hair and solid blue eyes that pierced your soul; a sign of an indestructible spirit. Kazama Arashi, Yondaime of Konoha could not bear to think of what would happen to his only son, in order to save the village he loved. He himself just had been in the combat, and used every jutsus he mastered against it; even the mighty Rasengan, although all proved useless against the Youkai. Arashi was back here in his office, because there was only one other solution to this threat. Hakke Fuuin Shiki; the Eight Divination Sealing Style. He had mastered it recently in the Forbidden Scroll, and knew the consequences as well. Also, he has never experienced the seal first hand before; it was all about learning and understanding how the seal actually worked.

The only problem was that he has never tried it before, since the one who performed the seal will be killed.

The Death itself was a horrifying existence that devoured the soul of the one who performed the seal, and the target whose seal was performed. Though, slight exception is made for entity such as Kyuubi; Death cannot completely kill the demon such as it, because it still has an enough life span to cover the age of earth regardless of its ancient age. Death is able to destroy the physical form, however. In that case, the soul of the demon will need to be caged in a living vessel, or else it will possess some other body and reinitiate its tirade of destruction. The most suitable vessel would be an infant, whose mind has not been set to the way of the world. Any older, the host will go insane, due to that their mind's way is already affected by the world around it: greed, hate, love… such emotions would be taken advantage of, and will be used against the vessel by the whim of the demon soul. To prevent this from happening, the vessel would need to grow with the demon inside, adapting, controlling, suppressing… and one day, conquering it.

Of course, all this cannot happen if he fails while performing the ritual. It was very complicated, for the seals were very difficult, while the chakra control must be perfect, and the person should be ready and willing to give their life.

Yondaime was ready for all of these. Otherwise, he would not be called Yondaime. The issue here was that there was no other candidate other than his own son, flesh and blood, his legacy as the vessel of the terrifying demon. He could not bring himself to burden the other clans. His mother had passed away during child birth, and if he himself would be gone, then there would be none to take him in, let alone to guide him.

'_But… I have no other choice…'_

Arashi heavily breathed out, then made his decision.

"Sarutobi-sensei… Will you... Take the child to ritual room?" Arashi spoke softly, while his emotions swirling violently right underneath his calm exterior. Sandaime nodded, and disappeared with the child.

'_The only thing left to do now… Is hope and pray.'_

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Shinobis at the frontline were retreating to safety. The fox was too much. Whenever its enormous tails struck, houses and people were squashed and crushed. All the jutsus thrown at the titan were either bounced off, or absorbed. The inexperienced nins couldn't even move their body, as the frightening aura of Kyuubi suppressed their own, contaminating the very air they breathed. It seemed Konoha's fall was inevitable.

In the middle of the battle field, Gamabunta chose to make its appearance with a loud puff, addition to Yondaime on his head. Remaining fellow leaf shinobis were ordered to retreat behind Gamabunta, which they eagerly did. Yondaime's expression was grim, as he stared down the abomination. The fox seemed to notice his presence, so it also glared at the Yondaime with malice that was not of this world. Within his peripheral vision, Yondaime saw the Hokage Tower signaling the finish of the setup.

Now, it was all up to him. '_I will succeed.'_

Sandaime watched through the windows of what had become of the outcome. To the naked eye, the two seemed to be struggling against nothing, but Sandaime knew better. The target and the user would be trapped in an endless darkness around them, therefore only they would see the sight of Death himself. Yondaime seemed to be having a difficult time trying to suppress the demon, as he was almost collapsing. Sandaime guessed that Kyuubi already knew of this technique, since it was struggling so hard against the invisible force.

It was then; a blinding flash surrounded the demonic figure, as everyone witnessed the body of the monstrous Kyuubi deteriorating. Hope sparked in everyone's hearts, as Kyuubi faltered, but shrank as a terrifying chakra shot out from Kyuubi like a spear and attacked Yondaime. Gamabunta had to move because of the attack, and Yondaime shook a little, but continued nonetheless. Kyuubi continued to dematerialize with a shriek filled with agony, and then finally started to crumble. Everyone cheered simultaneously, as the demon finally disappeared completely. All their joy was short lived as Gamabunta's gigantic tongue brought town the young Hokage from his back. Sorrow and respect were visible in the toad boss's eyes as he gazed down at his respected partner. Everyone gathered around the sleeping-like figure of Yondaime, and then they all recoiled back in surprise.

Yondaime was dead.

There wasn't any visible wound on his body. He was just simply… dead. He looked just like he was sleeping soundly; just that there was no breathing, heartbeat, not even a single movement. Everyone bowed their heads, paid respect for their Hokage, and thought of the ultimate sacrifice the Yondaime paid. It was a tragic day for Konoha.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the legacy of the Yondaime who now carried the soul of the chained monstrosity was carried in Sandaime's arms, as he thought of the future for the hair of Yondaime. He had planned everything out already before hand, but there were quite a few unexpected variables to his equation. They were quite formidable, yet Sandaime could do nothing against it.

The boy's destiny was in fate's hands.

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4 years later

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A blond child could be seen crying at the busy streets of Konoha. Any nice or sensible person might ask what was wrong with him, but these people were an exception. They did not spare a glance at the boy, and that was considered being nice. Some would throw hateful cold glares as they passed; filled with hatred the boy did not understand.

Actually, he did not understand any of this.

He was told by his 'uncle' Hokage that he was sorry that he did not have any time to play with him, so he wandered out into the streets for what you could say the 3rd time in his short span of life. What he did remember for each and every one of those few trips, were that the cold and hateful attitude the people at the streets. Wait, wait. Scratch that, everywhere and everyone except uncle Hokage actually.

The adults sometimes they acted like he had itsy bitsy cooties on him, and sometimes they acted like he was some dirty booger stuck on the bottom of their shoes if they seem particularly moody. He also saw that his peers (and older) found joy in mimicking their parents often when he was playing at the playground, and they also did not like him for these strange six whisker-like marks he had on each of his cheeks. Out of all of them, a single boy and his faithful dog companion were especially mean to him.

_He is not better than me… He had red thingy on his cheeks too! Why did he make fun of me?_, he thought as he recalled his memories.

He just couldn't understand. What has he done to them? Why were they so mean? He could not take the mental abuse, so that's why he sat here and cried. It was then he heard a soft whisper.

'_Boy… Do not cry…'_

The boy was so surprised, he jumped up in the air when he heard it, while accidentally bumping into a nearby person walking by. When the boy lifted his head up to apologies, he was met with extremely angry face of the person. He looked like he would eat him or something.

He said in a trembling tone that frightened him, "**You… How dare you touch me, you filthy monster!"**

With that, the person punched him so hard, that he flew back to the stands behind him. He was about the get back up and apologies for whatever he had done, but met with another painful kick to his face. This one was equally painful, if not more than the first. He was beginning to get angry, but the person didn't seem to stop. He kept saying "**You fox boy!" **over and over as he approached the boy. The boy looked frantically from side to side to look for any sign of helping hand, but found none. He instead found everyone circled around the fight… and _enjoying _it. They were pointing and laughing, and cheered the person to punch him harder. He felt tears welling. The person's punch proved too much for him as he smacked him repeatedly. Suddenly, he was in complete darkness, void of sense of space, and direction. He heard the same voice once again.

'_Boy… Do you want power? Absolute, unimaginable power? With it, you can easily kill those meager villagers… You can do whatever you want… Whatever you feel necessary…'_ The boy could not figure out the source of the voice, but that was irrelevant. The voice sounded somehow gruff and soothing at the same time, oddly as it seemed. In the boy's naïve mind, the voice was already marked as a trusty one… regardless of any interaction between them. Boy answered, '_What's asolu umimagilaebl pouwer?'_

He was certainly surprised as he could actually _feel_ the entity shaking its head. '_Curse the child's vocabulary. Enough of that, do you hate the person in front of you?'_ The image of person who was beating him flashed before him. The boy's answer was '_What is 'hate'?'_ The boy felt the entity _sigh_, and then the voice started to speak again.

'_Hate is… When you feel you want to be 'mean' to someone… That person was feeling hate towards you, so he punched and kicked you. Do you feel you want to be 'mean' to that person?'_ The voice said in a softer tone than before.

The boy thought for a good minute, then spoke again. '_Um… I… think I don't want to be mean… I did bump in to that person first… but… I don't understand… People are so mean to me, when I try to be nice to them. Only uncle Hokage has been nice to me…' _The boy said as he put a hand over where his heart would be. He clutched it as if it would fall off if he let go. The boy felt… _sympathy _emanating from the entity within the darkness… The first emotion ever to be shown to him other than this… _hate…_ by anyone else other than uncle Hokage. The voice did not speak, as if to contemplate upon something.

It was a while after the voice spoke to him again. '_Boy… You will understand in time why they hate you… but do you want to endure this? You could run away from this place.' _The boy's ears perked up. '_Run away?'_ The entity seemed satisfied that it got his attention. '_That's right, boy. Run away from this village. I have vast knowledge beyond your imagination… I could guide you… if you let me.' _The boy did not really understand what it was talking about, but agreed to it anyways. After all, the voice had to be trustworthy person… it had not lashed out at him or had been mean to him in anyways… yet.

Deep chuckle of the entity filled his head, as it sort of – barked – and shook his head.

'_Do not worry boy… I will not harm you. I will protect you… Human's ability to harm one another never seizes to amaze me…' _Of course, the boy did not understand what it was talking about, so he ignored the last part. There were more important things to discuss.

'_Um… I have one question… Where are you? I don't see anything. It's just dark.'_ The boy asked to fulfill his growing curiosity about this mysterious being; his voice seemed to be radiating from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He felt… _strength_ radiating from the being.

The boy patiently waited until the response came. '_It… is not the right time to reveal myself. You will understand soon enough. Now, here's what I want you to do.'_

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Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Sandaime was still working late at night. He was getting tired from all the demands the people of Konoha were making, but felt proud none the less. They have almost already recovered from the Kyuubi's rampage; so far, all was well, except one thing bothered him still.

He just heard disturbing news about the son of Yondaime. According to the ANBU members, they said that the boy was beat up to pulp today. Sandaime guessed that nobody helped him - heck, they probably joined in the beating. The one sided fight lasted about 15 minutes, and the boy fainted before 10 minute has passed. The ANBU told him that the guy was mercilessly beating the child, and the reason was… that he accidentally bumped into him at the corner. That was not the half of it though.

When the beating was commencing, the ANBU detected a strange phenomenon; the child's wounds were healing almost instantly after being inflicted. The attacker did not notice, and kept attacking, but was soon stopped by an invisible wall around the boy, and then all the people gathered there, including the ANBU, felt the horrifying chakra that everyone felt 4 years ago. Everyone fled, including the man who was assaulting the blond. After that, they reported that the Kyuubi's chakra wave diminished shortly after they left.

Sandaime already had dismissed the team from their duty. He had them follow and keep track of Naruto's movements and whereabouts 24/7, to make sure that the activity of the demon was kept dormant. If what ANBU had told him was true, then this will cause problems. The demon's chakra awoke at suck a young age, and it hasn't even been 10 years yet! The Forbidden Scroll stated that the seal would be sturdy enough to hold the captive dormant as long as to 20 years, but only after 4 years? The seal was designed to merge the vessel's chakra with the captive, so they will merge in one, as the time gradually passed. Which one will prevail? The stronger spirited soul, of course.

But for the demon to awake this early was unexpected, and not welcomed. Perhaps the merging will happen sooner than scheduled. He just hoped that Kyuubi wouldn't be the one who emerge through the blending souls.

It was then; the emergency alarm went off loudly ringing into the calm night of Konoha.

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The boy had done what the entity had told him to do. He himself knew that he had a talent for pranks; but it was his first time to pull such a big one.

He had set his lonely little apartment on fire.

He had alerted the securities that there has been an attack, and they believed him so much without a glare. Maybe it was because he was using that _hengu _or _henge_ or whatever that was. The entity told him to make weird poses with his fingers, and then it told him to concentrate on a picture of a woman in the poster, on the wall of Ichikaru. When he did, he felt something swirling inside of him, then _poof!_ Something happened, but the entity said he had no time to waste, so he could not even see what had happened to himself.

'_Now… time for phase 2.'_

The entity spoke, as the boy suddenly found himself feeling _strength…_ incredible _strength _running in his veins. It ordered to him to get to their destination as fast as possible, and kept nagging on him. Again, the boy obeyed and ran straight toward their destination, failing to fulfill his curiosity once more.

The boy was very surprised that he was moving at such speed; his legs were almost a blur, but he could see things clearly while everything passed by him at equal rate. He was taking the short cut towards the Hokage tower. The being had told him to find a 'scroll' that looked big, green, and special looking. He remembered that scroll, because he saw it in uncle Hokage's office before. It was hung on the wall, with weird cloth hanging on it with bunch of kanji writing centering the word 'seal'. The boy had asked the being that how he was going to get it, but it gave no answer other than '_Hurry up. We don't have time for questions.'_

Finally, the boy reached the gates of the Hokage Tower.

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Sandaime was out in his Hokage robe, already at the emergency meeting place. The ninjas of all ranks were called for duty, and were debating on what had happened.

He listened carefully, listening to the witnesses, evidence, the securities, the damages…

'_Wait a minute… Naruto's house?'_ Sandaime thought frantically as he interrogated them further. The securities told them that there was a woman (whom they have seen from sake commercial) who was telling them that there had been an attack on someone's house. Their location was near Ichikaru, and there was only one damaged property: Naruto's apartment.

Hokage thought with horror as he assumed that the villagers attacked him once again. Then, the door to the room was flung open, as guard Chuunin frantically came in.

"HOKAGE SAMA! THE FORBBIDEN SCROLL HAS BEEN STOLLEN!" The chuunin yelled out as he almost collapsed on the floor.

"What! How did you get hold of this information?" Hokage barked to the chuunin to explain the situation.

"I was late coming out of the Hokage Tower, because I have hearing problems sir. As I was exiting the tower, I saw a kid carrying a gigantic scroll on his back, sir. I tried to catch him, but he was incredibly fast and has gotten away far into the forest, before I was even near him. I've seen that scroll before, and remembered the scroll to be somewhere in the Hokage building, so I rechecked the building, just in case sir. While I checked, I found the Forbidden Scroll and various other scrolls containing our village's jutsus missing, sir!" Incredibly, the chuunin said this all in one breathe.

Everyone was becoming frantic, and was falling into confusion. Sandaime thought it was time for him to intervene, and shouted above all the voices in thundering tone, "**SILENCE!"**

As everyone was silenced, Sandaime asked the chuunin, "Did you notice anything of the intruder's characteristics? His hitai-te, hair, anything?" Sandaime was afraid that the chuunin would say what he expected him to say.

"I have not noticed any hitai-te, but I recall the intruder had blond hair, and seemed to be around 5, or 6 years old, sir."

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The boy was running through the forest with this new found power. The fact that he was running away from the cold glares of the villagers had struck a chord of joy in him, and also a chord of hopelessness, due to his lack of shelter and guidance. Fortunately, he had been forgetting about the entity in his head.

'_Boy… Do not be afraid. I will guide you. I will protect you.'_ The voice said within his mind as the boy kept leaping from tree to tree like a veteran assassin, which the boy had never even experienced before. The voice calmed his fears down, but he still had doubts about his food, and a place to sleep. He had never slept outdoors before, and never even been out of the village; it was natural for him to be afraid.

The voice told him the direction he should go once in a while. He was just running in a straight line, while changing course every once in a while when the voice told him to. The boy thought it was very strange that he was not even slightly tired – nope, he felt better than he had ever been!

He was enjoying the cool night air for the first time, as he kept traveling at a consistent pace that looked like a blur to any bystanders for quite a long time. The unlimited energy was still there, and he still felt like how he felt several hours ago. Now things have calmed down a bit in the boy's yet innocent mind, now it had some sense to ask where he was headed.

'_Um… May I ask where we are going?'_ The boy asked politely in his mind, as he now knew the voice was in his head; and that it required some patience to get an answer. The voice answered after a little while as he expected.

'_We are heading for a town out of this country. If I remember correctly, it was called the Wave Country. It is quite a nice place to live for humans to live such as yourself.' _The boy's heart wrenched as he heard the word 'village'. Obviously, the boy was imagining the cold glares everyone gave him. The voice, sensing his distress, calmly assured him.

'_Do not worry young kit. You will not receive or be harmed from the cold gazes of the villagers. I have seen many things in life, but I have never seen humans treat another with such disdain. The villagers out of this country will not be harsh on you. It is still a harsh world, but you are now given a chance to learn, be free of the suppression, and to spread your tails again, kit. I will be your guardian. There is nothing to worry.'_

Somehow, the voice had completely erased the young boy's troubles. Voice had just touched the very core that lied inside his fragile innocent heart, and comforted him.

He had found someone who did not '_hate'_ him.

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Back in the council of Konoha, a big debate was being held. All the elders and the council members were arguing whether or not they should go look for the boy. Wait, wait, that wasn't it. The issue was to either label Naruto as a missing nin, against the fact that he was not a ninja, and warn other countries, or just leave it be, and hope that he dies in the wilderness. The only person who favored neither of those options was Sandaime. He was in great pain, as he thought of Yondaime, for he had failed his duty to raise the 4th's only legacy, and a person who could be called his grandson.

He thought of his stupidity, as he blamed himself for Naruto's leaving. '_It was because I could not control the villagers… If they had not treated him so, this would not happen… It's all my fault…'_

Agreeing to himself that self blame would not bring Naruto back, he thought of anyway to help the boy, which was quite an impossible task as the elders and the whole Konoha against him. He tried to voice his thoughts.

"Everyone! We are making a big mistake! Naruto is innocent! He has not done anything to this village! Why must we abandon him like this?" Sandaime shouted above the argument which dealt with Naruto's demise. Everyone now stared angrily at him then one of them shouted across the room.

"Innocent, you say? That boy is the demon! He wiped out half of my clan! And you say that's innocent!" Leader of one of the Konoha's clan said with burning malice in his eyes. People all agreed in unison, so Sandaime tried once again.

"But don't you see! He is NOT the DEMON! He is merely a child! An innocent child whose soul has not been corrupted by the sins of the world! We cannot abandon him like thi-" This time, the ANBU member who Hokage had sent to observe the boy sharply interjected.

"Hokage-sama, please excuse my rudeness, but that is INSANE! The boy must be eliminated at all costs. He is a threat as long as he carries the demon. Have you not heard, Hokage-sama? Today, we ANBU, have felt the demon's presence clearly! I felt that horrifying chakra that forcefully shoved chills down my neck. He was clearly radiating with the demon's chakra during the fight today. There's no denying that, Hokage-sama. Please acknowledge him a missing nin. He may not be a ninja, and only 4 years old, but during the time I observed, I found that his mental state was mature than anybody else in his age. He also has the Forbidden Scroll, which contains the village's most secret jutsus, including the most dangerous jutsus existing in the world. There's no telling what will happen if he learns anything from that scroll. Therefore, I hear by request the dispatch of the hunter-nins immediately, Hokage-sama."

Sandaime seemed to be debating over himself, then finally announced in a resigned voice, "Dispatch the hunter-nins, but no matter what, bring the boy back alive, and retrieve the scroll if possible. If anyone harms the boy, they will be put under sentence of death. I hear by announce another rule: that you are not to speak any of this information from this day forward. Also, the contents of this meeting today will not leave this room. The penalty for breaking any of these rules will be the demise of your tongue." The finality of the statement rang in the air, as Sandaime demonstrated once again, that he had not lost any power from the days of his youth.

Authority regained, Hokage left the room, leaving the people to bicker among them.

As Sandaime left, he could not stop the spreading dreadful suspicion that kept nagging at the back of his mind though. '_Where had the boy gotten the information about the Scroll of Sealing? How had that boy thought of a plan clever enough to fool us?'_

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The boy was still running for god-knows-how-long, but still not burdened by weariness. While the long hours of running almost blindly through the land, he had been conversing with the voice in his head for the time being, and found him a good company. The topic that the boy had asked for was about this 'Wave Country' that they were heading to. The voice had kindly supplied, while sidetracking a few times.

'…_And the Wave Country is under the supervision of Mizukage, just like Konoha's Hokage. The Mizukage was quite a strong person for his age. I once faced him before, under the glowing moon light at a vast plain of the wilderness. It was an epic battle indeed… Oh wait… I think that was quite a long time ago… Hm… Nevermind. I do not think the current Mizukage is the Mizukage I am talking about. Anyhow, the Wave Country is a quiet place. Small, but peaceful. Do you want to know why we are heading there?'_

Naruto mentally nodded.

'_The reason is that I am going to train you. This may be a little confusing, but we have a special bond. You can think of it like… lets say… a mirror. If you break the mirror, what happens to your reflection?'_

'_It also breaks.'_

'_Correct, kit. That is the relationship between us. Bound together, just like a mirror. The reason for your training is so that you will not be weak, therefore securing my life and yours from danger. Now, the other reason is… that I want you to… never feel the pain of loneliness again. As your life progresses, you will eventually find somebody who accepts you… But by far, I am safe to assume that I will not remain until that time. I must prepare you to face the difficult trials that lie in your life.'_

'_Huh? What do you mean?' Naruto asked, with an undertone of fear._

'_Kit, our special bond… will not last long. Soon, I will be 'absorbed' into you. My whole being. My mind, my soul, and my energy will be a permanent part of you. The seal…no, the bond was suppose to keep us together for many years… but it seems that the creator of this bond have made a mistake. We may only have another 4 or 5 more years until our bond blends us in completely. My thoughts, my memories, my personality will blend in with yours. Do you understand this?' _The voice asked in a solemn whisper.

'_Um… I think so… Is it like what happens when you mix water with your pee?'_

While sweatdropping at the boy's analogy, the voice answered, '_That is… correct kit. Now, this is why I must train you to be strong and powerful. You will be the remains of my haunting past. Your name is already widely known to people in the Fire Nation and to other few nations also. They will try to harm you, and I cannot let them do that. Also, you just maybe the Kitling that I never had…'_

'_But… Why do they want to hurt me? Did I do something mean to them? And what do you mean you'll blend in… I don't want you to disappear… You were the second one to be nice to me, and I don't want anybody to go away like that…' _The boy sniffed a little.

The voice slightly chuckled. '_Kitling, the absorption will occur after years to come. Do not cry. I will not leave you yet.'_

'_sniff You won't, right? Promise?'_ The boy asked with desperate tone, which reflected his emotions well.

'… _I promise, kit. I will always protect you.'_

As their pleasant '4 yr old – and – 20000 yr old' conversation commenced, side-tracking to all the neat thing in life, they were finally nearing the Wave Country.

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It was unusually snowing at the dark lonely corner of Wave Country. The snow seemed so refined and pure, and it came down like feathers blown off to distance. In the midst of this pureness, a lonely young girl sat next to a dumpster. She seemed to be around 5 or 6 years old, her clothing were gray and ragged from not being cared. Her big innocent brown eyes stared up at the endless sky above her, which was silently blessing her with pure white snow.

"…"

The girl stood up, as she thought of her bloodline limit that has ruined her life. She felt like nobody wanted her. The loneliness that creped into her young and pure heart was almost unbearable. It was a pain that not even older people could endure, but she had to face it at such a young age, and learned to cope with them by bracing herself, and thinking of the happier times…

Times when she had a happy family…

Times when she felt like she was the happiest person in the world…

Times when her parents still lived…

Until that faithful day she learned of her inheritance.

Her mother had slapped her for having such power; it was a supposed secret, and apparently, her father did not approve such dangerous capabilities. This discovery led to the downfall of once happy family. One day when the girl returned home from playing at the fields with snow bunnies, she found many people from the snow village, and her father, standing over the bloody form of her mother in the living room. Judging from the wounds, it seemed she was beaten, slashed, restrained, and various other tortures were apparent. The girl could not apprehend the situation, and ran toward her mother, only to be punched down by the person she had called father. As the villagers approached her, she felt something within her awaken; an immense power, that was only gained by advanced inheritance. Thus, the fearsome ice spiraled around her rapidly in a geometrical shape, which would have been called a beautiful and magnificent sight by some bystanders, suddenly enlarged and pierced every possible corners of her home; killing all who reside within at the moment except the girl. She promptly fainted after such a usage, but when she awoke, she could not hide her sadness. She saw her father hanging from the ceilings with his stomach pierced by one of the ice spikes, his guts adding blood to the red sea below. She looked around, and saw the massacre surrounding her. She felt immense guilt, and felt loneliness for the first time.

The girl shook her head, trying not to remember the sad and lonely memories which threatened to consume her. It has been a while since she promised herself it was time to move on, but her mind seemed to resist change. It always brought bad memories and nightmares when she slept, and even haunted her sometimes in daylight.

Haku started walk to random location, trying to forget her painful memories.

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When Naruto actually got into the village, it was well passed sun-down.

'_Wow… This place looks a lot different than home, mister.' _Naruto 'thought' as he was approaching the Wave Country's entrance. The gates were not big as Konoha, but still quite large none the less.

'_Boy… Do not call me 'mister'.' _The voice called back somewhat angrily. Naruto asked the voice, '_Then… What's your name?'_ with all the innocence that came as a bonus for being so young.

'…_Kyuubi will do.' _The voice replied. Naruto thought for a moment, and then decided. '_I think I'll call you… Kyuubi-san!' _Naruto did a little mental dance, chanting '_Kyuubi-san, Kyuubi-san!'_ over and over again like a broken record.

The voice seemed to have dropped the matter, and did not protest against the boy's decision. After all… it did sound homey.

As the boy entered the gates, he looked around all over the place in wonder and amazement, until he was stopped by some guards. They grabbed his shoulder, and turned him around harshly.

"Hey, kid. What is your business here?" The guard asked in a business-like tone.

"Um… I… don't know…?" Naruto answered slowly in his timid voice. The guard shook his head.

"Are you with anybody? Where are your parents?" The guard asked again suspiciously.

"I… My parents are… not here…" Naruto replied sadly. The guard didn't notice this, and pursued.

"Did you get lost, then? Do you want to go to the police station?" Naruto interrupted in a sadder tone.

"My parents are… Not here anymore… I've never seen them before." The guard seemed to catch on now, as a look of pity entered his eyes, and his attitude took a 180 degrees turn. "Oh… There, there… It's alright. I've lost my parent too. I still remember them as the most precious people I had in my whole life." The guard stated, taking a nostalgic look while trying to comfort the boy.

Naruto's attention span caught something and asked, "What is a precious person?" with free - additional childish charm. The guard seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then answered slowly.

"A precious person is… I don't know how to say this, but… a person you really like… The person you love." Naruto tilted his head to one side. He did not understand the concept yet, and was oblivious to the fact that this was one of the most important knowledge you could get during your lifetime.

"Anyways, kid. I gotta get back to my duty. You can have access to Waver Country. Think of it as a gift, kid. I'll be going now." The guard went back to his post as he said good bye. Naruto thought, '_Wow… What a nice person. Back at home, they never treated me like that…' _The voice in his head seemed to have read his mind (A/N: duh…) and spoke.

'_They do not treat you so because they do not know of your secret; back at your 'home', everyone did, and hated you for it. There wasn't anything that lured you to a fault… They are hypocrites… Do not mind them. That was why you have left in the first place.'_

Nodding again, young Naruto had let his curiosity be his guide as he wandered around the town in fascination. As he was about to take a turn, he noticed a white, cold, angelic substance softly falling from the sky.

"… Huh? It's snowing…"

------------------------------------------------

Snow was still falling softly.

Haku was still wandering about randomly in the streets. She had nothing to do, but to salvage some food somewhere when she got hungry. When she turned a corner, she saw a little puppy, and ran up to her. Haku felt slightly happy as the puppy ran up to her as if it liked her. Her happiness was short to last; as the puppy's mother blocked its path from reaching her. The mother looked back up at her with angry defensive eyes that warned her not to go near her puppy.

Getting the message, Haku turned slowly around, but was suddenly held aggressively against the wall. She was very surprised to see 2 men looking around her father's age. They were wearing leather jackets, had a hitai-te on their arms, marking them from as Hidden Mist shinobis. Also, they had an unusual lust - filled glint in their eyes. Smiling wickedly, one of them spoke to her.

"Heh… a pretty young thing we found here… heheh…" The guy behind the one holding her spoke with voice that sent shivers up her spine. The other one had an equally devious smirk as he traced the outline of her face.

"Yea… She is a pretty little thing… I wonder what she tastes like." The man's breath came upon Haku's nose, as he said those words. The breath was filled with alcohol, and frankly, Haku was afraid. The man's proximity was scaring her more and more by the second. The guy behind him came in equal distance away from her face. Haku did one thing that automatically came into her mind.

A frightened shriek filled the cold, chilly air of the night.

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'_Aww… I don't have any money…'_ Naruto thought as he stared at the denbura (A/N: Sea food thing…) stand longingly, wishing upon a star to grant a miracle so that the delicious food would be down his stomach. He had not thought about anything financial, as he did not need to worry about those things before. Uncle Hokage always did something, and he would get food without paying. Now, he wished he had some yens with him, for he was HUNGRY!

"Um… Mister…? Can I… have some denbura?" Naruto asked, using his politeness to maximum. The owner of the denbura stand looked down at him.

"Hm… Those are 2000 yens for 8 sticks, soup included." The owner said as if he _knew _that he had no money to buy the denbura. Naruto, obviously sensing the denial of his little request for food, slumped his shoulder as he walked away from the stand with one last lingering glance.

'_I'm hungry…'_

Grooooowl "…"

It seemed his stomach agreed also. Indeed, hungry.

'_Hungry…Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry…'_ Naruto made another one of his little childish mental mantra of his own to emphasize on his need, and by chance or not, the voice, now known as Kyuubi, evidently snapped.

'_KITLING! Grant me some private time of my own! I cannot stand your chants! Are you at the absolute breaking point of your hunger?'_

Too bad Kyuubi wasted his breath.

'_Huh?' _That was Naruto's brilliant reply. Kyuubi could only shake his head.

'_Alright kit, alright. I think it is time I teach you the basic surviving technique: hunting.' _Before Kyuubi could go into details about how to hunt snow rabbits, he was interrupted by a sharp, fear ridden scream, piercing Naruto's ear drums. He concluded that the source was a dark looking alley just beyond the corner. He asked his guardian for guidance, as the guardian promised.

'_Um… What should I do…?'_ Naruto asked, as he was very frightened by the scream. He had never heard something like that before... He hoped that he would never hear it again, too. The guardian answered after moment of contemplation.

'_Hm… This could be your first exercise… Go see what the problem is. Also, always remember to watch your back kit. You must be always aware of your surroundings.'_

Nodding, the boy built up courage, as he ran toward the corner like a blur. What the Kitling had not noticed was that the inhuman chakra the guardian was supporting him with, which gave him extra sharpened senses, and physical attributes that would promise him to be quite formidable in battle.

------------------------------------------------

Rippp!

Haku stared in horror as the guy slammed her against the wall, and ripped the sleeves of her rags off. She thought of using her inherited gift, but immediately decided against it, for Haku felt that she would be lower than dirt to use the very core that had crushed her life to protect herself. She knew it was dangerous. It displayed its power quite well on that faithful day where her father had met his end. She never wanted to do that again.

Ever.

'_But the situation calls for it. You are in danger.' _ Rational part of her mind whispered, but her beliefs stood in its way, as it denied the opportunity. '_No. I will never use it again. I never want to see it again.'_

As her mind desperately searched for an alternative escape root, she heard a young firm voice, yelling, "Hey! Why are you being mean! That's not nice!"

Haku turned her head toward the source, and found two endless deep blue orbs staring right back at her. Time slowed as their eyes connected; brown met cerulean. What broke the gaze of his blue eye was the painful knee blow to his face. The boy was knocked down, and was sent several feet tumbling. The big scroll he was carrying got in the way and made it look more painful for his back. One of the guys started speaking arrogantly.

"Feh, you little brat. You think you can mess with us 'Mist Chuunin Bros'? You'll get soaked, so get outta here before I change my mind and bust you up." The guy said with a big, creepy glint in his eyes. "Nevermind. I'll just kill you."

The other guy who held Haku tied her up with a rope he produced out of nowhere, and then stood back. "I wanna see _this!_" He said excitedly. After all, he knew that his brother was the one who ranked tie between the top ranks of the chuunin. The little brat just didn't have luck.

The older one whipped out a mean looking kunai, (which looked like a black fork to Naruto) and held it horizontally a he charged at the boy. As he appeared above the blond boy, he gave a downward thrust aimed for his head.

'_Easy kill…'_ He thought as he continued to descend upon the boy. His blue eyes filled with something resembling fear, until it quickly changed into anger.

An absurd amount of killing intent.

The chuunin stared on and on, as he was trying to figure out what the hell was happening. His kunai, along with his whole body, was blocked by an unseen force, and then it repelled him back upwards, landing him where he was standing before. All these events unfolded in a flash, and the bystanders could only stare and be confused.

'_I don't understand… That was a clear downward thrust; how the hell did he bounce off in the middle of the air!' _The younger of the brothers stared hard at what had happen. The blond boy slowly got back up to his feet. The younger one suddenly felt like a cornered mouse, waiting for the inevitable.

The boy's eyes were not blue anymore.

Hellish red eyes stared back at their souls, and those who dared to challenge its might. The boy charged with speed easily comparable to a jounin, grabbed the older brother's head, and slammed him against the wall, revealing a large crater where the impact has landed. Blood spilled from his head, as he slowly slid to the floor.

The younger chuunin could only watch in fear. His said-to-be-a-prodigy brother has been eliminated in half a second. What chance did he stand?

The boy now slowly turned his head toward the remaining two, staring at them with bloodlust. The younger chuunin was frozen in place, and the girl was just sitting there, eyes wide.

A large grin revealed canine fangs of the boy, as he picked up the sharp kunai from the motionless hand of the older chuunin. He traced the sharp point of the blade delicately with his small index finger. Then, without warning, he threw it at the younger chuunin's head. He didn't even see it coming. The force behind the throw was so massive, that the kunai pierced his head, continued toward the wall, and created a hole size of the chuunin's head on the alley wall. Lowering to his knees, the younger chuunin clutched his bleeding, empty face as if to question what had happened, then he slumped on the ground, never to move again.

Now all that was left was the girl.

She stared at the predator. A once innocent-looking blond boy she witnessed few moments ago was nowhere in sight. The young boy was physically bigger now, though not by much. It made him look like 8 or 9 years old, in contrast to a young, 5 year looking boy she had seen moments ago. She mentally noted that he looked like a fox, with those marks that resembled whiskers and pointy ears. Haku prepared for the inevitable death, which she expected any moment now.

It didn't come.

The blond boy's blood red eyes returned to deep blue color as it has once been. She could actually see his body shrink just a little bit back to normal proportion of a young child. His ears became more human like, as his spiky hair relaxed to normal, carefree way. He's blue eyes bored into her brown ones once more, as if to question her existance.

After what seemed like eternity, he slowly turned his gaze to his red stained hands, and looked disbelievingly at the tainted blood. Haku thought he would burst into tears or something, but did not expect him to calmly wipe his hand on his pants, if not a little shaky. He stood still contemplating for a moment, and then the blond boy walked to her petit figure. After an awkward moment, he introduced himself, and apologized.

"Um… Hello… My name is. . . Uzumaki… Naruto… and I'm… sorry you had to see that…" He ended his awkward introduction as a quiet whisper.

Haku really didn't know what to say, but her mind went on auto-pilot told her to whisper a "Th…Thank you… for saving me…"

The boy seemed taken a back for a second, as if he didn't expect her to say that. After a look of contemplating crossing his face, he took off his blood – stained crimson shirt with spiral on the center, and put it on her instead. He quickly explained himself to her enquiring look, "B…Because… You seemed c… Cold…"

"Aren't you cold? It is snowing." The boy scratched the back of his head, then answered, "I… I… Um… no… I'm fine, really."

Now, the boy asked her, "Um… Is there any place I could sleep…? I'm kinda… lost…" Now, that was what least of what she had thought he would say. She could only reply, "Um… There is a little roof over there... Where we could avoid the snow…"

The boy nodded, then left to their destination.

------------------------------------------------

It was still snowing all around the Wave Country the next morning.

This was a very rare case, since it mostly rained in Wave Country, and snowing was something you see every once in a 10 years or so. This one was a particularly big one also. It snowed to 2 feet high!

How troublesome.

Luckily, he had been sleeping under the small roof with a girl around his age as his company. They were in the alley, where there were only small gaps with roof covering the sky. The roof had blocked the snow from falling on them, but that didn't mean that they weren't cold. The harsh wind blew across the alley with unnerving fury which would make any hard man shiver. Even though he didn't find himself cold for some reason, he hoped that the girl was shielded from this menace. Speaking of the girl, he hadn't noticed last night, but he found her ... weird… He felt he could trust her, while also subtly feeling himself being attracted to her. Even Kyuubi had agreed with him too. He chuckled and said, '_It seems you are not completely depleted of luck for females.'_

Naruto shrugged, and asked what he was to do today. He had no idea, because all he did yesterday was running. Incredibly fast too, but that was beside the point.

'_First, we will find a shelter suitable for our stay, and then start our first training session. Since I have forgotten about the human 'currency', it seems hunting will be your first lesson. After all, it is quite vital, and even though I can protect you from being weary, I cannot protect you from hunger. Snow rabbits should be plentiful this time of year.' _

Kyuubi stated as if the rabbits were the most mouth-drooling food in the world. Naruto sort of detested the idea that he would kill rabbits, since they were so cute, but he found a surprising amount of _want_ for the little white rabbits. He wondered why, because even though he found them adorable, when he pictured the images of the white bunnies, his mouth would drool and he would be thinking of how the little beings' flesh would feel inside his mouth.

Kyuubi sensed boy's confusion, and explained, '_Rabbits are one of the favorite meals of fox. Kit, we are wild foxes. Unchained, untamed, and only controlled by our will and ours alone. It is about time you tasted the delicious meal, even though you would probably prefer it cooked. Ah well, that would be the nature of all Kitlings.'_

As Kyuubi explained, the boy was even more confused than before. '_Um… I am a fox? I sure don't look like one I saw in the picture book… They have pointy ears and sharp teeth too.'_

Kyuubi slightly smirked as he marched onward to conquer the young curiosity. '_You are a fox. A very rare case at that, but by the moon, you are a fox, Kitling. Still young, but a fox indeed. Kitling, you may not look like it on the outside, but on the inside, you are a true fox. You will go down in history as the greatest Kitsune ever to exist, one of these days. Humans have detested you for being so much alike with the kinds of the forest… You are great and clever at pranks, and that you are so intelligent and mature for your age, are the proofs that you are a fox. Always remember this, Kitling. It is one of the most important lessons in many that I will give you. Never forget who you are.'_

Naruto slowly nodded as he soaked the words in his mind like a sponge; and comprehending them. Some words he did not understand, but he got the message. Doubts have once again, flew away like a feather on northern breeze.

Now on to the next matter.

'…_What about her?'_ Naruto asked as he moved his gaze to the sleeping form of the small girl across the wall. She was rolled up in a comfortable position, and was sleeping quietly. So quietly, that only indications that she alive was the light, rhythmic movements of her chest; along with his shirt mirroring her movement.

'… _I am… not sure what to do with her… I think you should ask yourself on this one. After all, it is your_ _responsibility, for you have saved her.' _Kyuubi replied with a shrug. Naruto groaned, as he debated what to do.

Choice no. 1: Leave her here. '_Hm… Personally, I would prefer this option, since I think she would be a burden for us anyway.' _Kyuubi threw a comment bluntly. Wondering why this caused him to frown, Naruto continued.

Choice no.2: Take her along. '… _I'm afraid this would be your choice, since she probably doesn't have anywhere to go… Ah well. Take her along, if you will.' _Kyuubi threw another one of his two cents on the option.

'_Thank you, Kyuubi - san. I was a little afraid when you said you liked to leave her here…' _Naruto said in a relieved tone, as he let out a breath he didn't even realize that he was holding in anxiousness.

'_We will see, kit. Remember, it is her decision as well.' _Naruto nodded, acknowledging the fact that had been overlooked.

While Naruto was having this mental discussion with the entity inside his head, Haku awoke. She had instantly fall a sleep last night as soon as she had gotten in a comfortable position, since she was dead tired for some reason. All the memories from last night were fuzzy also. All she knew was that she was in trouble last night, and then somebody had saved her. Her brown eyes blinked as she looked around her surroundings. The first thing she saw this morning was a mass of fuzzy blond hair, spiking out at every direction.

So he was the one who saved her….

Haku tried to remember his name in the hazy storm of her headache. U..zumaki… Haruto…? No, no. Naruto. There you go. That sounds about right…

Then she remembered that her clothes were ripped, although she thought it was odd that she did not feel cold as much as she should have. She then noticed that her torn gray clothing which resembled something like a shirt was now replaced by a crimson shirt which looked fairly new. Even though the material itself was crimson red, bloodstains were distinguishable among the redness. Wondering how it got there, Haku turned her gaze to the blond boy 2 feet across from her. Then the rest of the events of last night started returning to her, starting with the slowly returning recognition of the bloodstain's origin. The two horrible men, the killing, the apologizing…

The frightening thing was that she was not really all that frightened, nor affected by the incident.

When the men grabbed her, it was scary, and she did not know what they were going to do to her, but it mattered none now. When the boy had appeared, she felt a twinge of relief, and reassurance. When the boy killed the men: nothing, except gratefulness. Why? Because she had done that before too. She had killed many people once, and that event was all that took to raise an impenetrable barrier around her 'innocent mind' from the pitiful and gruesome demise of the misguided Chuunin brothers.

As the bad memories surfaced within the given crack of her defense, Haku shook her head to clear her head off of the haunting memories. She did not want to remember that. Not now, not ever. Instead, she chose to direct her attention to the blond haired boy named Naruto across from her. She quietly observed him as if he was the most interesting thing she had found in her life. Oh wait. Actually, he _is _the most interesting thing she had found in her life so far.

Even though he wasn't wearing clothing on top (due to his generosity to give his own to her), he was not shivering, nor giving any sign that he was cold. He just sat there, against the big thing he carried, while gazing at the wall across with unfocused eyes, indicating that even though his body was here; his mind was actually somewhere else. Haku knew that state of mind. She had been in that realm many times before.

Especially after she killed her parents.

Whoops, the haunting memories rose again, with unstoppable force this time. Haku closed her eyes as she tried her hardest to block the terrible pain the memories brought. The memories were uncontrollable, just invading her mind when she was widely awake in daylight, to the deep dark realms of her dreams. Once the horrible stampede started, nothing was able to stop it until she relived the whole incident, from beginning to the end. Usually, no one cared that she was having a mental assault, and none tried to help her out of it. But this time, it was different.

A gentle shake of her body broke the tirade of the unforgiving memories.

Haku squeaked an eye open, and saw the electrifying blue eyes just a few inches away from her own. Something she had not seen for quite a long time filled them.

Worry.

His blue eyes were filled with worry as he woke her up. Nobody had _ever _shown that emotion since the time she had left the village. Everyone was too busy to feed themselves to care for an orphan child like her. To sustain her cursed life, she had to rely on catching unsuspecting rats, or leftover food from dumpster. As a bonus, nobody cared.

Now, Haku opened both eyes and stared at the boy. It was a while before her brain registered that the boy had asked a question.

"…Huh…?" Haku replied with confusion ruling over her. The boy repeated himself.

"Um… Are you alright? You were crying… Did you have a bad dream?" Haku stared dumbly as her right hand reached up to her face, and found that she had been indeed crying.

"I… I… Y…Yes. I had a very bad dream… It was very scary…" Haku said slightly dazed, as she was still very surprised. It had been _weeks_ since she cried. She had _never_ cried in her dreams before either. She was very frightened, and felt headaches, but never tears. They never came before.

The boy seemed at loss to what to do. "I… Um… Wha? ...Ok… Um… Do… you mind to share… your dreams? Kyuubi - san says it helps." Naruto said uneasily, as if he was sitting on a needle pillow. Haku thought it was strange, because the boy was looking like if Haku touched him, he would explode or something. She also thought it was strange that the boy would mention 'Kyuubi – san', when there wasn't anyone in this small, quiet alley corner that remotely resembled a fox other than the boy himself. Haku felt compelled to ask, and it was too much to resist. Besides, it would change the subject.

"Uh… Who… is Kyuubi – san? I don't see anybody…" Naruto seemed a bit taken a back, as he looked away, looking like he wanted to find any escape route possible. Finding none, his uncomfortable look faded as he thought deeply. Haku stared at his serious face, and then noticed that the boy was… talking to himself. She could hear the soft muttering.

"… Should I tell her? … But Kyuubi – san… Aww… Ok…" He nodded, as he looked back at her. Haku patiently waited.

"K…Kyuubi – san is my… uh… Ojisan! He's the one who protects me. He's my best friend!" The blond boy stated somewhat awkwardly at first, but ended up as a confident little speech. Although, after he finished off proudly, his facial expression had immediately changed into one of pure curiosity.

"What's your name?" The simple and innocent question was asked to equally innocent little Haku.

"My name is… Haku." Naruto urged her to continue on. "Do you have a last name?" To that, Haku shook her head sadly, as she answered him. "No… I left my last name when I… ran… from my home." A look of understanding flashed in the boy's eyes. "You ran too? Me too! I just ran from my… huh? Oh. Ok. _Their_ village yesterday. The people back at… _their_… village were very mean to me. Kyuubi – san told me that they 'hate' me, but I still don't really understand… Were they mean to you at your village too?"

Haku thought for a moment, then decided to answer truthfully. "Um… They weren't mean to me at first… but one day, I played outside, then when I came back, everyone was mean to me! They did something to my mom, and she was on the ground, and there was red water everywhere around her! It was like sort of what you did to those bad men… My father tried to do what he did to mom to me, and then… everything else is a blur. When I woke up, I saw everyone just… lying there in the red water! It was very scary… So I ran away after that… and I had nowhere else to go, ever since…" Haku briefly told her history, and technically, her dream to Naruto. Granted, it felt… Good. She felt like some kind of heavy rock was removed from her back, and now she was light as a feather. She was slightly worried that the boy would resent her for what she had done to the villagers, but was quickly washed away, as the boy showed understanding.

"Why are there so many mean and nasty (a new vocabulary that he just acquired from Kyuubi – san about 0.5 seconds ago) people? The villagers back at the village were very mean to me too. A nasty person kicked me and it was very ouchy. Oh oh, that was when I first met Kyuubi – san! He told me about the idea about running away too! Then I borrowed this thingy called… uh… Scroll of… uh… steal? Huh? …oh. Uh… Scroll of… Seals!" Naruto exclaimed as he rolled the gigantic scroll in front of Haku to show it to her. He was about to open it, but he soon put it back away.

"Kyuubi – san says we should open it later, after we find a place to nap." Naruto said as he got back up on his feet, while strapping the giant scroll on his small back. He was about to run off to the streets, but stopped just in time and almost tripped, as if he forgot something important.. Stumbling back towards her, he then asked her the 'question'.

"Oh, yeah. Um… Kyuubi – san says… um… you could come with us… I mean, if you want to, of course…" Naruto said with a sort-of-scared face, while scratching the back of his head, which Haku found as a cute gesture. Haku thought for a moment, but was quick to make the decision.

_I_…_ think I can trust him. He isn't mean to me… and he cares too. And he wants me to come with him!_

Haku nodded her head feverously, showing the how eager she was to come with him. Naruto's negative expression brightened into what you call an 'innocent' smile, which only inhabited in purest of children. Haku's lips mirrored his momentarily after.

Together, hand in hand, both young children left the solitude of the dark alley corner, to the bright, yet dark and harsh world of Wave Country.

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Heh, are your eyes burned off their sockets yet? Oh well. Thank you for your patients to read it ALL THE WAY here. Well, there's a little more, but we'll get to that. Endless Rage is currently on hold(cause my dad forbade me from writing fanfics for like 2 months), but I will get back to it for the people who reviewed! Thanks, y'all!

Oh yeah, my beta reader pointed out that Naruto and Haku were a little too mature, but that's what happens when you kill a horde of people and carry a living demon inside! -

If you have any questions, please write on review, or email me!

Now, here's a little extra!

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**Extra: Naruto/Kyuubi's point of view**

Kitling was in a little deadlock with the girl few feet away from him. Her big brown eyes and his own clashed, and wouldn't move. Finally, using all his little will power, he turned his gaze from her eyes, and focused on his bloody hands.

This was his first kill.

His hand was stained red, like a flaw on a flawless piece of white paper. He was now very, VERY afraid, and was about to burst, but Kyuubi interjected.

'_Kitling… You did what needed to be done. You were trying to protect that girl, and also defending yourself. Self defense isn't killing. It was you, or him. I much prefer you over those 2 goons, so it could not be helped. I held back my power, but it was still too much. I'm sorry, kit.' _Kyuubi stated in a sad tone.

Kitling just wiped his hands on his pants, mentally saying, '_Its… ok…' _At this, Kyuubi was surprised. The reason was that Kitling was not suffering mental trauma of the first kill. He was acting way too calmly. Heck, he was barely 5! Kyuubi briefly wondered how he would grow up.

Kitling walked over to the girl, and then just stood there for a minute, loss of any words. Kyuubi sighed as he felt it was an appropriate time for his kit to know how to 'pick up' a female. '_He's still too young, but it will do him good.'_

'_Kitling… It will do you good if you first introduce yourself, and then apologies.' _Kit's mental answer was, '_How do I introduce myself?' _Sighing for umpteenth time today, Kyuubi braced himself for the worst.

'_First you go with 'hello', then 'my name is…' I trust you know the apologizing part.' _Kyuubi stated tiredly. Dealing with a 4 year old kid was too much mental stress for an old entity like him.

"Um… Hello… My name is. . . Uzumaki… Kitling… and I'm… sorry you had to see that…" Kitling said slowly, as if he was unsure of himself. '_Figures. This is his first time interacting with a female of his kind…'_ Kyuubi thought as he watched him amused.

The girl replied 'thank you', instead of running away like a crazy girl, as Kyuubi expected, and was quite pleasantly surprised. '_It seems this girl has already seen death before… Interesting…'_ Now, the boy was unsure of what to do, so he just stood there again. Kyuubi rolled his eyes, and then commanded him.

'_Kitling… Why don't you offer her some warmth? Your shirt will do. Her clothing seems to have been ripped.'_ The boy was silent for a second, and then a mental nod was received.

Kitling did so as he was told, then to her questioning gaze, he quickly explained himself, to avoid embarrassment. It was then Kyuubi noticed something fishy. This whole scene seemed a little too unrealistic to Kyuubi, as it was just tipped over being natural. They were now 'conversing' about how cold it was today. '_You don't see 2 little kids at the murder site, chatting about the weather everyday.'_

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The next morning, Kyuubi gave Kitling a little speech about Fox's Dignity. He couldn't really stand his Kitling being hurt from being a fox inside. I mean, how would you feel if your 'considered-son' degraded himself as people shunned him!

After the dramatic speech, both moved on to more haste-required subject; the girl.

Kyuubi had already sensed the girl's abnormal amount of chakra for her age. It was still _nothing_ compared to the 'normal' amount his Kitling had, but it was quite above expectations as well. Also, a strange ability he sensed from her was slightly unnerving, but he didn't pry into it.

His little Kitling had taken a liking into this little female already. Kyuubi wondered why Kitling even bothered to ask him about it. It was quite obvious that he wanted her to stay. Even though, Kyuubi went along with the conversation, no matter how obvious where it was going. It wouldn't do him right do deny a conversation with his Kitling. It was quite entertaining, and Kyuubi had also found a liking in teaching. Every time his Kitling made progress, it made him feel proud.

While they were conversing, Kyuubi noticed the girl stir. He did not bother to inform the Kitling, but he did bother to prepare some… reasonable answers, to prepare for the confrontation coming up. After all, it was crystal clear for an old entity to see that the girl had some questions.

Kyuubi wasn't prepared for it when she started crying in her sleep though.

'_Might be an after-effect trauma. Taken a quite a lag, if that's the case.' _Kyuubi wasn't surprised that his Kitling noticed and tried to help her. It was actually engraved in his nature.

Kyuubi silently watched the scene unfold, and then got an idea. If he could get her to talk about what's bothering her, then he would be able to figure out what had happen to this girl!

Mentally grabbing the ear of Kitling, he started to command. '_Kitling. Ask her if she could share her dreams with us. I know as a fact that it helps.' _So the Kitling did as he told, while adding in unnecessary information, such as Kyuubi name.

Kyuubi mentally sighed deeply, as this was sure to bring up MORE questions from the girl. Apparently she didn't wait.

Kyuubi was frantic to find a believable answer, as Kitling turned to find his aid. Kyuubi mentioned the first thing that came into his mind.

'_Tell her that I am your… Ojisan! Yes. No! Don't change the sub-' _Kyuubi's little plan crashed to the ground, as Kitling changed the subject. Now, Kyuubi may never know of her secrets… If one thing was known widely about Kitsunes, it was that they did _not_ like to walk blindfolded.

Kitling started to tell her his story, as to why he had run away from Konoha. He had to constantly remind the Kitling that Konoha was not his village anymore. Kitling seemed unsettled, but obeyed none the less.

Kyuubi was surprised again as he found the girl's short past strangely similar to his Kitling. This made things _so_ much easier. Kyuubi was relieved that he didn't have to claw the walls of his prison at the frustration of being left in the dark.

'_So she had killed before too… That explains why she was not fazed at the display of ruthlessness yesterday… though this brings up question as to why she did not protect herself yesterday also.'_

When Kitling was about to start on one of his universal questions about human humanity, Kyuubi thought it was about time Kitling learned a new vocabulary, and taught him 'nasty' within a millisecond before he started. That was quite a feat, considering the given time to teach the 4 year old.

Kyuubi was happy to be assured that this girl was no burden. She might be a great support, instead! Kitling was bonding very well with her already within this short amount of time, and Kyuubi was pleased.

When his Kitling took out the Scroll of Seals to her, Kyuubi was alarmed. That was not something that should be off his Kitlings back until they have found a suitable training spot. Quickly, Kyuubi intervened.

'_Kitling… Not yet. We will look at the scroll after we find a place to sleep. Not yet.'_ Kitling seemed to be overjoyed that they would _finally_ find a place to sleep. And so Kitling did as he was told.

Kyuubi sweatdropped as Kitling readied to launch out back to the streets, psyched about finding a nice place for a nap. He had to remind Kitling about the girl just before he left, so Kitling would avoid the humiliation of leaving the poor girl all alone. Kyuubi sighed as his Kitling tripped as he stopped. He ordered the Kitling to go back to Haku and ask her, and sighed again as Kitling asked him how to. Kyuubi rolled his eyes as he instructed Kitling on how to ask people to come along with you.

'_Alright, listen up kit. Just say that she could come with us if she wants to.'_

A mental slap to Kyuubi's face echoed through out the cold prison, as he mourned over the clumsiness of his Kitling. Kitling had mentioned Kyuubi's name AGAIN! It was not like he told Kitling to not to reveal his name to anyone, but still! Well, what's done is done. Thankfully, the girl hadn't questioned Kitling this time, and her enthusiastic nod assured quite an interesting future.

Kyuubi smiled (a full fledged fang grin) as both petit figures walked back to the outside world, their tiny hands intertwined.

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-The corpses of the two chuunin brothers were never found.-


	2. Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**Side story – Kyuubi**

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'_So… you will protect me forever?'_

'_I will. Of course I will.'_

Che, yeah. Of course, my hateful little vessel.

So easy to control. So easy to manipulate. What a trusting fool he is… a fool to the heart! To think that I, the mightiest of Youkai will help a mere pitiful creature like him… The most vicious, powerful, destructive creature in this pathetic mortal realm!

… And yet…!

He still trusts. He knows that I am a demon… and yet he trusts.

What an interesting creature.

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Kyuubi no Youkai thought deeply as his vessel slept peacefully on his bed. Kyuubi knew that his vessel will never sense his thoughts, for he knew that they boy was still too young to sense his emotions and contemplations. He was still weak minded and trusting, yet his potential was over flowing.

Kyuubi definitely knew that this was the end for him. The trapped youkai knew that there was no way to break the god damned mental cell from inside. The cursed father of the vessel was the one who had put him into this annoying situation… He even managed to tweak the seal into fastening the process of absorption!

Everything was falling a part.

There was actually a way that could reverse the seal inside the Scroll of Sealing, he knew. But who would be willing to do it? There weren't many people who even _knew_ of the jutsu, forget about being able to perform it. Even if they did apply it onto the seal, it was still _extremely _risky.

Kyuubi had thought about teaching the stupid jutsu to his vessel, but he knew it was futile. Knowing the thickness of his skull (literally), it would take at least a decent decade to teach the buffoon.

The absorption would be done by then, and Kyuubi would cease to exist.

Kyuubi still thought viciously, clawing around inside his prison, fighting over the sudden angriness that came from the fact that he would actually die. Sure, he had died before, but was always reincarnated…

… But this time, he was being absorbed into the vessel forever.

Although in a different sense, he wasn't really dieing at all. He just wouldn't be in control of his power and might anymore. This _could_ actually be the freedom he craved from the _emptiness _that threatened to swallow his mind… so why was he trying to fight it?

'_I… do not know.'_

But one thing was for sure. If he was going to fade away from this damned mortal realm to wherever demons went when they died… World, be damned, for he would leave a mark. A horrendous legacy of terror.

'_The boy is still young, with bursting potential and capacity.'_

Kyuubi knew that his vessel would listen to him as long as he appeal to his vessel's weaknesses and did not do anything to betray the vessel's trust … Naruto was still a thin, blinding white paper, still shining with innocence. Though soon, the favored colors would be dark, thick black, with crimson red contained inside, in favor of Kyuubi's delight.

'_He is suitable to be my successor.'_

The boy will continue **his** legacy, instead of the boy's pathetic, _heroic_ father.

He would make _sure_ of it.

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Yo people! Sorry I didn't update! I'm pretty sure not many missed my fic, but here I am, back from the grave.

Anyhow, I had _so_ many things to do, with my house moving and all. On top of that, a trip to France for 2 weeks! Well, things are pretty much settled now, so I _think_ I'll be able to write more frequently.

Oh yeah, I'm going to put little segments of what happened between the time he left and the encounter with Team 7, so be prepared!

In the one above, Kyuubi has ulterior motives planned for the world… Oh, and in case if you were wondering, the setting of the side story is the night before he burned his house and left the village.

I have also created Haku's last name in sheer boredom: Asamoya - Morning mist.

**MUST READ **people… I will say this: I have made Haku into a girl ON PURPOSE. Stop telling me that Haku is a boy. He looks like a girl, and sounds like a girl. So, I will write him as a girl. Don't like it? Don't read it.

Also, Haku would be sort of OOC in this fic… cause I presume that living with Naruto for 7 or 8 years would do that to you. Though, the series never gave us time or clue to what Haku's personality would have been _without_ the intervention of Zabuza…

**Responses:**

SilentOmega: Man… You like, certainly mastered the art of Jumping to Conclusions! If I remember correctly, I never said that Naruto and Haku will be romantically involved. It's certainly a possibility, but nothings written in stones yet! If you think about it, Haku and Naruto have suffered quite a lot of rejections and pains at early age. It's kinda natural that they would trust one another so quickly.

The Red TrenchCoat and all the other people who told me that Haku is a boy: Read the MUST READ thingy above please.

And now, feature presentation.

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**Alone in the World  
**

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**Encounter**

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Uchiha Sasuke, the last, living prodigy of the feared Uchiha clan, sat on the railing of the bridge, waiting for his damn sensei to arrive.

Team 7 had been called this morning to their usual rendezvous spot to receive their next mission. As always, they were very punctual, even though they knew their teacher wouldn't be so. Sasuke sighed as he noticed the gaze filled with obsession directed to him, like so many times before in his short lifetime.

"sigh… Sasuke-_kuuuun…_" …_That damn annoying Sakura…_

When she was selected into Team 7, Sasuke would have given almost_ anything_ to make her stay 20-feet radius away from him, thus preventing the massive groping and all that. She was obviously overjoyed that she was in his Team, instead of the 'Ino-pig', or so as she states. Personally, Sasuke didn't care _who_ was on his team… as long as they weren't wasting his time.

Sakura didn't seem to realize that she was just another empty-air-headed girl to him.

"…twiddle twiddle…"

Then, there's the other _temporary_ member of the team… Hyuga Hinata. Her first impression was…well, _timid _to put it mildly. From what Sasuke could see, she was one of the most pathetic girls he had seen so far, despite the fact that the name 'Hyuga' meant she was one of the most powerful clan in Konoha. He couldn't see _how _they were so powerful and fearsome, even if they wielded the Byakugan... She had absolutely no confidence in herself, and she was intimidated very easily.

'_Why is she here again? Oh yeah.'_

…The reason that she was a temporary member of the team 7 was that the original member, Momogure Haite, had to take a trip… literally. How ridiculous could it get? That clumsy fool tripped on a _rock_ for god sake! The unfortunate, _UNBELIVABLE_ result was his face painfully plummeting to the ground, while twisting his arm in such a grotesque way that it broke in 4 different areas.

"_Hmph… Serves him right… a month of physical therapy…'_

The only exceeding humiliation was _Hinata's _teammates Apparently, while they were doing a _D rank mission _where they had to help move the furniture of an old lady, the dog boy also _tripped_ over the foot of that… Shino… was it? Anyhow, the dog boy and his load of heavy furniture had met Shino and _his_ heavy load of stuff, causing quite a ruckus, with close-to fatal injuries that may take several weeks to heal (From what he remembered, it was several broken ribs, arms, and a small fracture on their forehead). Sasuke was sure of it that it was the Inuzuka who had caused the whole thing in the first place, even though according to Hinata, the dog-boy had claimed fiercely that it was all Shino's fault that all that had happened. Why? 'Cause Shino was second-best in the Academy, only outperformed by Sasuke, and Sasuke _knew_ that the silent boy wasn't clumsy like _somebody_ he knew.

'sigh …_but at least that moron was better of a teammate than her…'_

Momogure Haite. A ridiculously clumsy fool who wouldn't last a _day _in a kitchen. The fact that he was from the Momogure clan, which specialized in the fields of Doton jutsus made him sort of interesting, but he was still considered as a '_dobe'_ in Sasuke's Encyclopedia of Drop-Dead Fools.

He's an odd fellow, he is. For one thing, he wore a thick mining goggle that revealed his mischievous eyes only when it was exposed to direct sunlight. His 'hat' resembled something close to safety helmet, only it wasn't. Light coat he wore it everywhere with him covered his upper body, while exposing his shirt that proudly presented his clan symbol 'III'. Sasuke had to admit though. Haite wasn't really that bad when it came down to fighting. Of course, Sasuke still found himself superior, but Haite was still a force to be reckoned with. He had proven that point well when Team 7 was tested by their silver-haired sensei to see if they were worthy to gain the title of the genin.

The whole key point was to combine team work and bring down the jounin as one, but they had been obviously blinded by the fact that there were only _2_ bells, instead of 3 for each. Thus, greed for the title of genin had lead to individuality, and ultimately, defeat. Sasuke had acted first, using his Katon jutsus, but the jounin had easily dodged and waved off his traps. After the attack had commenced, the jounin immediately used "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!", and dragged him underground and thus giving him no time to recuperate.

That was when Haite made his move.

Sharp "Doton: Dochuu Eigyo no Jutsu!" rang in the air, as Haite suddenly popped out of the crouched jounin, who was in the middle of taunting the Uchiha boy. The kunai that came down aiming for the jounin's spinal cord had met its target, but only for a moment. A trimmed log had replaced the jounin's place and took the hit, acting as an element of surprise to Haite. He flinched, and that was all the time the jounin needed until he was behind him, with a tiger seal. Everyone thought he was going to use a Katon jutsu, which were quite dangerous and painful from that point blank range, even if it was the lowest level of Katon jutsu. Haite had done his best to form the necessary seals in a millisecond (for burning alive by his sensei wasn't in his agenda for the day) and used Dochuu Eigyo just in time to dodge the feared attack, but it wasn't what everyone expected it to be.

It was just a really powerful asspoke, instead of the feared Katon jutsus of the Uchiha clan.

The jounin sweatdropped sadly as he noticed that he had missed the target. Although Haite was underground, the jounin knew what to do. He carefully observed his surroundings carefully, looking for some odd looking shadow sticking out of the picture. Unfortunately, he had not noticed any suspicious looking thing except for the hole the Uchiha's head has been occupying before.

…Huh? Wait a minute.

Just as the thought struck the jounin, both pre-genins jumped from the ground at their pre-sensei. Even though they would have landed on the jounin if they had been given another half a sec, they were knocked down from mid air with 2 palm striking their chest. As the genins expected the inevitable failure, the jounin's one visible eye was curved into a smile, as he happily announced that they had passed the test.

After he explained that the point of this whole exercise was teamwork, Haite suddenly noticed that the 3rd female member of the team was missing, and exclaimed. The jounin blinked at the statement; he had not even seen the girl during the exercise!

Luckily, they did not have to search far to find her. She had apparently fainted due to her lack of nutrition and at the sight of her beloved Sasuke's head sticking out the ground, as if he were some gourmet meal served on a silver platter. Sasuke slightly blushed, while shaking his head like he was disappointed with her to cover up his sudden blush, while the jounin had shook his head for her lack of ability. Although, the jounin's visible eye slightly widened just before blinking several times. Haite had just gaped at her, with his jaw dropped like a sac of potatoes. All while blushing like hell.

Sudden "**KYAAAA!" **erupted from the girl as she hastily pulled down her red dress to cover herself, while punching a dazed Haite square on the jaw. It was very fortunate that he had collected his fallen jaw on time; it would not have been pretty being punched there while it was still hanging.

Still, Haite's body was not as fortunate as he soared through the sky of Konoha like a rare comet, and painfully crashed on the roof of a nameless house.

Sasuke still wondered how Sakura had managed to notice their gaze while being unconscious (and all that ridiculous strength in her punch, for that matter. She never seemed to be the muscular type).

Afterwards, they have been doing nothing but missions that were rank Ds and occasional Cs for last couple of months after they had been sorted into genin teams. They have varied from babysitting to searching a useless cat in the middle of nowhere, and it certainly wasn't worth his time. To add to that, Hinata's team had been _combined_ with Kakashi's team for some reason…

'_Temporarily,' _Sasuke reminded himself. _ 'I didn't think the team arrangements would be changed just because the majority of their teammate was injured… Hm… It could it be that Kakashi did something… I wonder why? And why the hell am I wondering about this anyway? Waste of my time…'_ Yes, it was a waste of time.

He had other things to do, like becoming powerful enough to kill _him._

There hasn't been a day since the incident when he would not be plagued by the nightmares of the murder, frightened by lifeless eyes of his parents, and by _him._ Sasuke had always planned _his_ downfall since the day _he_ left him here all alone. He still remembered the last words from the devil before _he_ departed…

- _Foolish brother… if you want to kill me… then hate, spite… and survive pathetically… run and run… and cling desperately to life… -_

Sasuke felt his emotions rising just by that memory, so he suppressed the rage and hatred he had contained for 6 long years with pure will like he always have.

'_Damn… This mission better be worth it like he said… …where is that god damn Kakashi - sensei is anyways!'_

Exasperated, Sasuke turned off his 'automatic mental tuner', only to be greeted by Sakura's heart-filled gaze on him again. Suppressing the urge to gag, he decided that when that Kakashi arrives, he would let the hell loose for making him endure this torture incomparable to anything of this mortal world.

It was also justified by the fact that Kakashi had been **5 hours** late, just like any other day. Sasuke had enough of it. This… 'Test of Patience', as Kakashi put it, was too much for him. Wasting 5 hours a day, listening to that moronic girl babble in front of him wasn't exactly what he would call a wise use of time. Those 5 hours were a big chunk of his day too.

'_God damn it…'_

As Sasuke unconsciously prepared the seals for Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu, Kakashi appeared with a puff of smoke above the gate of the bridge.

"Yo. Sorry I'm late. You see, I saw this lady tripping over a rock, so I had to get her to the hospital. That's why I was -"

Sasuke yelled sharply, "KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!" as he breathed out a gigantic fireball, clearly aimed for the storytelling jounin. Kakashi sensed it, and he countered easily with "Suiton: Suijin Heki!" which covered Kakashi completely with a barrier of water, and cancelled Goukakyuu no jutsu while canceling itself. Thick steam of water indicated that the attack had not been successful, so Sasuke went into defensive stance, and peered through the mist.

"Now, now Sasuke-kun… Don't be like that. I was only late by 5 hours. Is there really a need for violence?" Voice filled with mirth floated out of the steam with a little chuckle. Kakashi stood before them inside the circle of burnt ground, with visible drops of water.

Sakura jumped to Sasuke's defense at the given chance. "Kakashi-sensei! You're a LIAR! I don't think there's even a SINGLE LADY in Konoha that would TRIP OVER A ROCK! Seriously, it's a NINJA VILLAGE!"

Cutting into her irritating ranting, Kakashi amusedly stated, "But Haite tripped over a rock. Doesn't that count?"

Sakura blushed at her flawed explanation, but only for a second. Indeed, Sakura was a master at verbal offence, and defense... or more like barrage of words that could make some people crawl under a rock purely out of annoyance. "He doesn't count! He's not a lady! Besides, even if you did do what you have said you've done, it doesn't take 5 HOURS. Sasuke-kun has the RIGHT to get pissed! How would you feel if you were waiting 5 hours a day doing nothing?"

Even though Sakura was saying those things, she was actually pretty grateful for 5 hours that they had to wait for Kakashi everyday. She could ogle at _her Sasuke-kun _for 5 hours straight ALONE! Well, not exactly alone, 'cause Hinata was here too, but she didn't count because she was so quiet.

'…_I think he was reading that perverted book of his!' _Inner Sakura furiously punched the air inside Sakura's mindscape, enraged at the thought of anything concerning perverts.

Kakashi shrugged it off in a way only he can that could be translated to some people 'I-don't-care-cause-your-insignificant' and droned on. "Hokage – sama has requested our presence. I'll meet you guys at the tower."

_puff!_

Sasuke gritted his teeth so hard, that his jaw muscles bulged out. Although he was irritated beyond the point of 'calm exterior', he had no choice but to follow his sensei. Even though Kakashi appeared to be an asshole (and he is, most of the time), he was actually one of the most powerful ninjas in Konoha, and not to mention quite well known too. What he was famous _for_, he didn't know… yet.

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In the midst of the forest outside of the Wave Country's water border, two very fast figures could be seen moving throughout the forest at an amazing velocity. One of them possessed bright sunny golden hair, and the other having graceful jet black hair. They wore cloaks... or at least, what _use_ to be cloaks. It might have started as dark black, but it was already close to light gray from rough treatment. Oddly, the cloaks had red stains here and there, conspicuously resembling blood. No hitai-tes were visible, indicating that they weren't from any of the 5 Great Shinobi Villages.

"Ne, Haku… Are you sure that we're going the right way? We've been running for almost… 3 days!" Blond boy yelled at the girl, while trees passed him by as a blur. Haku closed the distance between them, and spoke.

"I'm sure. This _is _the direction that merchant pointed to anyhow. You _do _remember the plan though, right?" The boy just scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his whiskered cheeks slightly tinting red. "Uhhh….." Dragging out the 'u' sound, he glanced at her uneasily. Haku returned the glance with a knowing look, while mentally sighing at the boy's I-think-I-forgot-again-just-like-any-other-day gestures.

"O… Of course I remember." The boy bit out, though Haku wasn't convinced. "Suuure you do."

"No, seriously, I do! First, we're gonna retrieve our scroll, and then hit the road! …" Blond boy hurriedly clasped his mouth as he realized that he had just announced their grand plan to the whole world.

Haku just shook her head, sighing at his behavior. "Naruto, I'm still getting over the fact that you could actually _remember_ the plan… but you didn't have to yell it out loud. Even though I'm guessing that we're in the Wave Country's neighboring forest, who knows what lurks out here? Remember that even trees have ears…"

Naruto just snorted.

"Yeah, like they would be interested in some stupid plan…" Though he would have preferred to complain a little longer, Haku's glare had quickly shut him up.

Naruto decided that this would be a good time to change subjects. "Haku… isn't this guy supposedly a jounin…?" Indeed, Naruto's comment forgotten, Haku diverged into thought.

"…Yeah… I heard something like that. He's supposed to be a missing nin too. Why do you ask?"

With his primary object – getting Haku to forget about his comment – completed, Naruto was quick to reply.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

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Team 7 was now gathered at the front of the gigantic gate of Konoha. Tazuna was also there, all packed up and ready to move, with an opened bottle of sake in his hands. Sasuke had not moved from his spot since he got here, but you could see the blazing fury for the silver haired sensei underneath his cold exterior. Unfortunately, they were still waiting for their jounin to get his ass in gear…

'_I can't believe him… He's still late?_' Bursting with anger, Inner Sakura shook her fist in rage, thrashing around wildly. Though the Outer Sakura gave no indication of what was going on inside, the irregular tic on her right eye gave off her irritation nonetheless.

"A… Anou… is Kakashi sensei a… always this… l, late?" Hinata's timid voice shook Sakura off her thoughts involving very pointy objects and a tied-up Kakashi sensei. Sakura turned her gaze to the pale girl.

'…_Why's she so nervous? '_

Sakura decided to smile, in hopes of enlightening the girl's emotions. "Yeah, he is. That's just him… Watch, he's going to come up with another crazy story about his wondrous adventures in his 'Road of Life'."

Sakura felt glad when the girl actually giggled a little bit.

"Bah… being protected by bunch of giggling kids… How super useless…" Tazuna grumbled as he took another sip of his sake.

Sakura threw him murderous glares filled with promising pain, but noticed that Hinata seemed to take the comment by heart, as she appeared to have lost her usual below-average confidence. Deciding to take action, Sakura spoke.

"Tazuna-san… I'm not trying to be impolite or anything, but… PLEASE DON'T DRINK SAKE! You're getting drunk."

Tazuna snorted.

"Peh… How super annoying…" Even though he said this, he stored away his sake bottle nonetheless.

With a usual ninja puff, Kakashi and Kurenai made appearance as Sakura was about to drop her politeness again. Unfortunately, Kakashi could not have picked a better time to receive scolding for his usual tardiness.

Kakashi coolly gazed back as he noted the seemingly burning hellfire in Sakura's eyes. "Yo… Sorry I'm late… You see, I had go get Yuuhi-san to come with us! After all, one of her pupil is here and…"

"**_Sensei…"_**

"Kakashi… Just drop the subject. We should get going now…" Yuuhi Kurenai stepped in, with a resigned expression dominating her features. Her expression seemed to say, 'Don't bother.'

Even so, Sakura could not help but to grit her teeth with viciousness rivaling Inuzuka clan members.

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Team 7 continued through the roads uneventfully. Not even a single bandit had shown up… Scratch that, not even a single _threat_… like a squirrel. Kakashi blushed under his mask while reading Icha Icha Paradise, blissfully unaware, or at least pretending to be, of Kurenai's dark look. She was feared among the perverts in Konoha as a "One Tough Cookie", with a knee that promised men that walking straight would be a problem for a long, long time.

Of course, Kakashi knew this fact very well. How could he not? He was one of the only few who ever had peeked on her (and Anko, apparently) body when she was taking a shower, and is among the even fewer who lived to tell the tale from the monstrous – Doom's Day Knee –.

Kakashi did fear that he might not be so lucky next time. Though, he couldn't help but to think with glee, '_Even so… it was worth it.'_

What he did not notice among few other things, was Hinata's growing blush. Kurenai-sensei had told her to activate her Byakugan just in case to scan the area, and when she did, her all-seeing gaze was drawn to the little orange book in the silver haired jounin's hands.

Hinata made lots of presumptions about this book before, but she had certainly never have expect _this._

'_A… Ah… aiiii!'_ Feeling the uncontrollable tsunami of blush threatening to consume her face, she immediately cancelled Byakugan.

Unfortunately, she had not maintained her Byakugan long enough to notice the out-of-place puddle of water on the middle of the road with strange chakra kanji written all over it.

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"I wonder what Hinata is doing…" Kiba said slowly in the white, silent room of the hospital, hearing his voice echo a bit before falling into another silence.

Kiba was certainly not happy with his current situation. He just _HAD_ to trip on Shino's _stupid _foot, didn't he… Now, he was wrapped up in bandages, along with some cast as a result. How stupid could it get?

'_Not to mention painful too.'_

Akamaru barked in response to what he was thinking. Sometimes, Kiba wondered if Akamaru could read his mind.

"Shut up Akamaru… You weren't the one smashed by a crapload of shit!"

"BARK!"

"…."

Having no smart comeback for his companion, Kiba also wondered if Akamaru was smarter than him too.

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As Team 7 passed about seven feet or so from the suspicious looking puddle of water, two cloaked figures launched themselves out of the puddle. Both were connected with sharp, long chains, and some mean looking claws on their hand.

All members turned sharply to see what had taken place, but Kakashi was already in pieces, falling on the ground.

"K…Kakashi sensei!" Sakura screamed with horror creeping up her voice, but thankfully remembered to move into defensive position in front of a startled Tazuna-san. Hinata had activated her Byakugan, but seemed too scared to move. Kurenai's presence had vanished too.

Sasuke immediately jumped, and then pinned down the offensive chains with shuriken and nailing it immobile with a kunai right on the tree. Landing on their dumbstruck arms, Sasuke hurled his legs to kick their masked faces. Caught off guard, the two ninjas disconnected their link simultaneously while unintentionally letting Sasuke jump back to safety.

'_Che, their teamwork is on a different level than ours… If we don't get our acts straight, we're done for!'_

With that thought in mind, Sasuke swiftly charged at one of the perpetrators, delivering a painful blow to the stomach while feigning a kick to the side. Masked nin quickly recovered from the blow, but was not fast enough to dodge Sasuke's "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and could not help but being burnt to the ground as a dark soot.

While the offending nin was being crisped, it's counterpart rushed forward aiming for Tazuna – san, but was met by a formidable defense – Hinata's all seeing Byakugan and her devastating Jyuken.

"You will not pass me." Showing a side of firm determination that no one knew she possessed, Hinata took the stance of the ancient Gentile Fist, her veins thickening and pumping. '_I just need to remember what Kurenai – sensei has taught me... Stay calm, and don't show your weakness… Oh, why does this have to be so hard?'_

"…Byakugan… Damn it…" The offender said no more, for he charged forward again. His claws ready, he swept underneath Hinata, aiming for her neck.

Obviously, he clearly has never dealt with an advanced bloodline like Byakugan before.

While Hinata was not the best Jyuken user, she was certainly not the worst either. Even a Hyuga child could defeat an adult if their ability of insight is mature enough. Hinata saw through his attack, and she already has countered it – she waited until he neared underneath her, then she 'slapped' his left shoulder where his claw was attached to, causing massive internal muscle damage.

The masked nin recoiled in pain and surprise, staggering back to a safe distance… only to be met by Sasuke's descending foot.

'_Wow… is that the shy girl I talked few minutes ago? It's like she turned into a whole new person…' _Sakura thought in surprise, looking at the pale girl anew, with something close to admiration. '_So powerful… she didn't even seem like she tried, but he faltered….'_

Needless to say, their sensei reappeared with a puff, with a sheepish expression on their face… as far as Team 7 could tell, anyhow.

"Hehe… Um, great job…?" Kurenai started uneasily. "Aa. Great teamwork." Unlike Kurenai, Kakashi backed her up casually with the usual uncaring attitude.

Sakura wanted to say something like "_Where the hell were you_?", and some other interesting choice of words, but her Outer Sakura omitted them forcefully and only allowed "Where were you sensei!" Inner Sakura was _definitely_ unhappy.

Kurenai seemed unsettled. "Uuuum… We jounins decided that you guys would be strong enough to handle this kind of situation by yourselves… We were ready to jump in anytime, of course."

Sakura wasn't convinced, and seemed like she wanted to argue, but Kakashi cut her off before hand.

"Errm, Anyhow…" Suddenly taking a serious tone, Kakashi looked evilly at the knocked out attacker with his one visible eye cricking into a happy curve. Looking inconspicuous and casual, he took out something that could only be described as 'extra extreme torture equipment' from inside his green jounin vest.

Hinata blinked.

Sakura dropped her jaws, speechless.

Sasuke turned his head, mumbling something about idiot senseis.

Kurenai's eyes widened a great deal as she stared at the abomination. "What the …? You actually CARRY that thing around?"

Smoothly ignoring their subtle (or not so subtle) outbursts, Kakashi ushered the 'audience' to a relatively safe distance, and then tippy-toed on to the enemy ninja. Also ignoring the look of fear spreading across his enemy's visible features, Kakashi's voice now sounded more amused than threatening. "Now… you _will_ tell me who sent you. If not, then**…**."

grin

Sakura could not help but to wince and shudder as the unfortunate shinobi kept screaming for his mother.

------------------------------------------------

"It's been a while… hasn't it, Haku?" Naruto softly muttered as they stood in front of the worn-down gates of the Wave Country. He still remembered when this town was lively, and had _life_ in it. To see it ruined like this… it had disturbed the blond boy.

The Wave Country was where it all began… It was where his true self emerged… It was where he met Haku… and it was where life had taught him a valuable lesson: World is a harsh reality.

But still… the sparks of life were gone from the people of the streets, and did not shine upon little children either… Naruto briefly wondered if he was like that when he was of that age. He had run from emotions; sadness, loneliness and anger... and eventually learned to contain them up tightly inside his heart.

It was quite rough years both Naruto and Haku had to endure; surviving solely upon berries, sometimes meats… meeting nature's challenges every year and overcoming them…

Despite all their obstacles, they had prevailed and now had become of age where they could quite easily take care of themselves. Both knew that they owed Kyuubi of his wisdom, as he taught them through Naruto to survive in the unforgiving wilds. Though, Naruto soon had found out that they weren't the only ones having troubles.

It was really weird to see the demon contained within trying to suppress its own rage and suffer – in order to help its vessel. Later, Naruto had understood that by doing so, the demon could gain freedom of his prison; Naruto.

One thing he learned about the demon inside his head was that he wanted to be free. He bared incredible mental scars and wounds beyond any human's comprehension, and wanted to be rid of it all.

Kyuubi had explained this to him before: that whenever the demon kitsune is somehow killed or dies of age (which happened very rarely), they are reborn – or rather, reincarnated. Complete immortality… but there was a catch too: all their memories and pain are transferred freshly as if it happened seconds ago. For this particular demon, immortality caused other problems.

For example, humans usually never feel the emptiness, the _pointlessness_ of living… simply because they have the death on their side. A mixed blessing, really. Living everyday, fully knowing that you could die any day…

Kyuubi had no such thing.

Just when you thought you lived enough, you are forced to live again – a tired soul. Too much pain, memories, forced into one mind. When you live for a very long time, you start to question yourself, '_What am I living for? My purpose?' _What was Kyuubi to exactly accomplish anyway? Destruction? Kyuubi had accepted destruction as his destiny, but then why did he felt so pointless? There was almost no recovery from his art of destruction… Only ruins of once existed life. So, if there was no creator, then why the destroyer? '_What did destruction accomplish?'_

A being without a sense of purpose…

Kyuubi was tired, living in hatred and anger which he does not know the source of, the unknown pain originating from equally unknown origin.

'_Kyuubi… I have been wondering, don't you hate me for being a prison to you?'_

'…_I suppose, kitling... I do not deny that I have harbored extreme hatred during early days… but the pain of loneliness… the sheer feeling of emptiness… is no match for joy of companionship.'_

'_Huh? What do you mean?'_

'_You are the first one to have a 'conversation' with me in couple of millennia.'_

Basically, Kyuubi was forever bound to this world, living in pain and emptiness that was impossible to satisfy... Though, the absorption process had somewhat provided him with hopes.

Kyuubi had told him that this was his first time being _sealed_ into something in his continued lifetimes. This was usually seen as a hindrance, but in this case, seen as a possible escape route.

Kyuubi could give up his physical and spiritual form to his vessel, then that will thus quench his long thirst for freedom of mind.

Honestly, the power of the mightiest youkai mixing with a human – originated kitling was unheard of, and absurd, but it _was _quite possible, all thanks to the Eight Divination Seal. The link they shared – the chakra – was enough for them to communicate, and meet face-to-face in the depths of Naruto's mindscape. Also thanks to that, Kyuubi captured inside was being held as a chakra form – and was quickly being absorbed into Naruto.

'_This enormous power is the gift I give you, and the burden you will carry.'_

'_My rage, my loneliness, my emptiness, my hatred… All of my emotions… '_

'_Do not forgive them, kitling.'_

"Hey, Naruto…? Naruto... Helloooo? Anyone in there?" Haku waved her hand before his eyes, and then knocked him on the forehead several times, bringing him out of his memory.

"…Huh? Wha? Oh. It's just you." Haku pouted at that.

"What do you mean it's just me?" Mocking extreme emotional pain, she continued. "…and here I am, worried sick about you…"

"Oh. Um… Sorry? I was just… thinking." Haku's eyes widened and brought her hands to her mouth, in mock surprise.

"You were actually _thinking? _Now _that's_ a first." Just to make sure, she checked the sky for any hints of invasion of flying pigs.

Naruto shrugged in response, and casually resumed walking, with Haku following closely.

The pair now walked along the empty and trashed apartments in the dark area of the Wave Country, where it seemed to have no other residents other than families of rodents.

"Hm… This place looks deserted, but I guess it will do… Man, I'm starved! Can I go hunt some rabbits?" **SMACK!**

Oops, wrong thing to say. That had definitely earned him a smack on the head. Naruto had forgotten about the small little detail that Haku was bunny _obsessed._ She did allow her self to eat them when it was a matter of _life and death_, but no more. Every time he mentioned his craving for the little beings, she never failed to present him with a loud '_smack!' _followed by incredible waves of pain.

"Oww… that really hurts, you know. Don't you know I'm fragile? C'mon… There must be hundreds of bunnies this time around… It wouldn't really hurt to have _one_ lousyrabbit… Would it?" Haku gazed back at him coolly, with a message that stated '_Yes, it would hurt you a lot if you did.'_

Naruto gulped audibly, and then his fox grin returned with a vengeance while his eyes sparkled mischievously. '_Let's see how she handles this…'_

"Hmph, then here's a question for you: What would you do, if you had to choose the bunny or myself as a meal in an absolutely dire situation where no food was available…?" Heheheh. This one was a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' question.

'_I'm so brilliant.'_

But to his disappointment, Haku did not hesitate to give him an answer. "Of course I would eat you first… I can't bring myself to eat a _bunny_. Even my birth zodiac matches! Sorry Naruto, but if we _ever_ get in such a situation, then I guess you have to offer yourself as a sacrifice." She suddenly stopped for a moment, and then a wicked grin sprouted momentarily. "Oh, we won't mind. Bunny and I would _love_ to feast on you." Her statement was soon accompanied by a seductive wink.

'_D, Damn… she gets me every single time…' _Naruto's jaw hit the ground with a hard 'thud', as his eyes bulged out with a little trickle of blood trailing from his nose. "Wh… wha…?" Haku busted into a full fledged laughter, as she futilely tried to hold in the massive waves of laughter.

'_I hate it when she does that… Why me...'_ Whenever Naruto tried something funny, or try to challenge Haku into a battle of wits, it usually ended with her laughing at his expense. Inside Naruto's mind, that was another win for Haku among countless others, while he had not had the chance to celebrate his own victory. Who knows? Maybe someday he would triumph her.

'_Of course I will.'_

Back to the matter at hand; although Naruto did not like being teased like that, he was a tolerate person. Yup, he was a tolerate person indeed.

Aw, screw patience. _Snap._

Naruto snarled lowly as he glared at his female companion, whose laughter had now stifled into muffled giggles under the frightful glare of doom. She then flashed one of her smiles again. Even after receiving the unearthly smile, Naruto tried to maintain his glare at her, but he ended up joining the enlightening smile with a sigh sooner than he wished.

"Man, that really wasn't fair, Haku. You _know_ my weak spots!" Haku smirked confidently, her eyes sparkling.

"Silly Naruto. Don't cha know that you can't catch the rabbit?"

------------------------------------------------

Zabuza sat on his gigantic sofa in an arrogant position, with his giant Kubikiri Houchou lazily slung over his left shoulder. In front of him, a small man with 2 samurai bodyguard stood.

"Zabuza, I thought you were the mighty _Devil of the Hidden Mist_... What's taking you so long to kill a useless old man!" The said man snorted at the short, greedy man's impatience.

"Che, don't worry. I'll get the job done. You better have the payment ready." Zabuza carelessly observed him from the corner of his eyes.

"You're not the one who's making decisions here. _I_ am the boss, and you do as I tell you to do you bastard! Don't you even-" The small man was stopped as the giant cleaver was threateningly positioned on his forehead. Trickles of sweat appeared on Gatou's forehead as he observed the oppressive weapon with obvious fear.

"You shouldn't ever mock me, Gatou. I could slice that pitiful head of your along with your useless bodyguards before you could say 'money'. Or maybe I should just slaughter you and all your pathetic goons, huh? Though that is an intriguing idea, I will spare you… but remember; absolutely no one… orders _me _around, unless they want their heads separated" Zabuza slowly removed his weapon from the intended target, while Gatou let out a sigh of relief.

Still sweating preposterously, the fat man stumbled toward the exit while cursing at Zabuza for threatening him, and his bodyguards followed him out shortly after.

"What a fool…" Mumbling to himself, Zabuza shook his head in disgust. Zabuza could care less about that business man.

'_It seemed the Demon Brothers have failed in their mission…and they got what they deserved. One who cannot complete the task given; only death welcomes them with open arms…'_ He thought as he recalled what had happened to the two men he sent.

'_Burnt, beaten, torn, and… Ugh, I don't even want to think about that.' _Zabuza cringed as he recalled what had happened to one of the brothers; practically half dead from… who knows what. '_Ughh… that sends shivers down MY neck… freaks… Feh, they're probably chuunins anyway. Sick bastards… all the villagers are probably pathetic insects too…_

'_Oh…? Heheh… Wipe out the village? That would be fun… maybe it's worthy my time.'_

With a dark, ominous grin, Momochi Zabuza decided that he would take the matters into his own hands.

------------------------------------------------

"Ne, Haku… Where are you going?" Naruto asked from his meditation state, while squeezing an eye open. Haku was half way out the door when he had asked.

"Hm… Let me think… maybe… I'm going to shop to buy some food so you won't starve to death?" Came the reply filled with barely concealed sarcasm. Naruto had chuckled at that.

"Eh, I'll go with you. Meditation is always boring anyhow." Naruto said as he got up from the floor, massaging his thigh to remove a cramp.

"Suit yourself."

------------------------------------------------

Things have been quiet ever since Team 7 reached the household of Tazuna-san, and Kakashi-sensei took advantage of the time they visited there by teaching them chakra control. Three genins trained hard, even when it started to rain out side. Despite the harsh coldness, their jounin instructors told them to climb the high trees – without using hands. By utilizing the chakra, the three of them had to gather them on their feet and use them like a suction cups.

Surprisingly, Sakura had a talent for this.

The rest weren't as fortunate, for both Sasuke and Hinata had to experience some unpleasant pain on their posterior for quite a few times. Although, Hinata completed the training _much_ earlier than Sasuke did, which he wasn't quite pleased with. _Both_ of those 'pathetic' girls had beaten him in something.

Hinata hastily explained while stammering, that she was a Hyuga and that these things were naturally required to be a Hyuga.

Sasuke had gritted his teeth at that, and kept going at the tree with a vengeance, not giving any sign that he had accepted the Hyuga girl's explanation.

Alas, within four agonizing days, Sasuke had mastered the chakra manipulation.

Meanwhile, with nothing to do (for _both _their senseis were being lazy again), both girls had followed Tazuna – san to the streets of the Wave Country. Sakura was surveying the streets with sadness, for which she could see the poorness and the unhappiness practically consuming the atmosphere. Hinata was basically doing the same, but something else had caught her attention.

Flash of a golden blond hair.

'_I wonder… Who could that be?' _Hinata wondered as she stared at the owner of the sunny hair. The person struck a chord of… something in her, strange as it sounds. It almost felt… familiar. As if they were acquainted, though she was pretty sure she had never seen even a glimpse of golden in Konoha… excluding Ino – san's. Her hair was close to being light yellow, anyway. Not at all like rich, sunny golden.

'_But… I'm sure I've seen him somewhere before… but where?'_

As she was lost in her thoughts about who this mystery person was, the mentioned person was approaching her direction.

------------------------------------------------

"Well look at what we have here, Haku… _Leaf _nins" Naruto's facial expression turned to one of extreme disgust and fury.

"Cowards."

Haku also noticed the two female with Konoha's symbol on their forehead protector walking by the shops, apparently looking for some groceries like she was. That did not really concern Haku though. What she was really worried about was Naruto's reaction to his former villagers. '_Lately his emotions have gotten even more unstable… I just hope he doesn't kill them on sight.'_

It was quite possible with him, after all.

"Now, don't make a scene Naruto… Remember what you learned about think-before-act? Now is the time to put it to test."

Though, Haku soon found out she had wasted her breath as usual… for the boy in question had already start to move towards them. '_Sigh… Sometimes, it's a real pain in the ass to get him out of his own grave…'_

------------------------------------------------

"What a surprise… _Leaf nins._"

The group sharply turned their heads at the source of the voice containing outright dislike. There stood a blond haired boy about age of twelve, glaring at the group. He had strange marks on his cheeks, somewhat resembling a whisker. Hinata briefly wondered what they have done to upset the boy. With this in mind, she chose to stay silent, not wanting to upset the boy further. Besides, she couldn't find any courage to speak anyways.

However, Sakura was nowhere near the level of sensitivity as Hinata was.

"And who might you be?" Sakura got the feeling that she wasn't going to like this guy…

"Hmph, I have no need to introduce myself to pathetic Leaf girl like you. I -" Though he seemed to have more to say, he was cut off as a black haired girl around the same age suddenly arrived, and promptly shut him up. "Naruto, shut up. It wouldn't do us any good if you make a mess. Besides, don't be rude to a **girl**."

Naruto gave her a withering glare from the corner of his eyes, knowing it wouldn't even faze her, but still trying. '_Growl… just when I needed some stress-relief….'_

She wasn't even unnerved.

The cute (both Inner and Outer Sakura grumpily agreed that the girl was quite a looker), black haired girl turned to them after just ignoring her companion's death glare. "I'm really sorry for my elbow jab! rude friend here. You'll apologize, smack! Right, Naruto?"

The mentioned person seemed to be still recuperating from the unmerciful beating, but managed to shake his head even when doubled over, clutching his stomach in a fatal position.

"D… Damn… it… I'll… never… BAM! … I, I mean… damn… N, no! THUD. … wait…" The blond fainted shortly after an abusive trip to conquer his stubbornness.

"Ah well, I guess that's one way to shut him up, I guess. Oh, let me introduce ourselves. I'm Haku Asamoya. The pile of who-knows-what sitting over there is my friend, Naruto." She stated, tilting her head forward slightly to greet.

"Oh, I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you." Sakura replied, pleasant as ever.

"I, I'm… Hyuga H, Hinata... Hi…" Hinata timidly replied, feeling sorry for the blond boy secretly. '_I wonder why he was so mad…'_

"Hm, Nice to meet you guys too. U-um, I would love to chat, but it seems we're out of time. Naruto will be angry if he doesn't get dinner. Bye!" As suddenly as she came, she grabbed the remains of Naruto, and instantly vanished in a veil of mist.

Sakura and Hinata stood in silence, trying to process what had just happened.

"…They're gone? Just like that?" Outer Sakura had to bite her tongue in order to stop her Inner Sakura from saying, '_What the hell?'_ in fear of ruining her no-violence-girl image.

Of course, Hinata remained silent for a while, contemplating. Finally, she decided it was best to just leave at "I guess so."

Then they stood there for another 20 sec, before Sakura got tired of the silence.

"Alright, enough. Let's finish shopping… Sasuke – kun will go hungry!" And Sakura automatically went into _Sasuke-kun_ gaa gaa mode, lost in her own little fantasy world. She was currently feeding a smiling-Sasuke on her lap in a world full of cherry blossoms. She had finished feeding him and she lowered her face close enough to his to -

Oops, that's a little private.

Indifferent (and painfully oblivious) to Sakura's terrible blushing state, Hinata just remained silent again, for she had no idea what to say once more. After all, she wasn't obsessed with Sasuke – kun like Sakura was… and something told her that things would get dangerous if she woke her up from her pleasant daydreaming.

------------------------------------------------

"Naruto, you baka! What were you thinking! No, you weren't thinking, were you! Just marching in the middle of a crowd and trying to start a fight!" Haku spat flames from her mouth as she marched back and forth in front of a grumpy Naruto. He was currently sitting on the floor, wishing the mighty heavens would grant him ear plugs.

"But I couldn't help it! Those idiot girls make me SICK!" Naruto retorted, but Haku did not even pause in her lecture.

"You could wait a little before you punch the crap out of them you know! I'm pretty sure they were genin level ninjas, so there MUST be a higher level ninja with them at least. The Leaf isn't stupid enough to send low level ninjas all the way out this far by themselves!" Haku's argument did have a point, but Naruto refused to back down.

"So what if there's a stupid ninja with them! I've fought their hunter nins before, remember? I'm not scared of them!" Haku sighed, exasperated. '_I swear, NOTHING gets through that head!'_

"Kami… "

Naruto growled in frustration, and left the room.

------------------------------------------------

Naruto was seriously frustrated. Haku _knew_ what he thought of those disgusting Leaf nins, and yet still derived him from his right to smite them! They _deserved_ to be killed, and they _deserved_ to be judged. Whether they knew why or how, it did not matter. They were all the same anyways.

So then, why was she holding him back…? Wait a min…

'… _She couldn't possibly be still going on about that bloody 'I miss my home' crap, could she?'_ Naruto wondered as the thought struck him.

'_So, Naruto… don't you ever miss your old home?_

'_No, I don't. Who'd miss them anyways?'_

'_Then WHY… do you snuggle me at night and keep saying, 'I'll protect you, Penguin - chan', huh?' _

Naruto winced at the memory. She had gotten him _good_ that day. He had no excuse, not even a weak retort at the accusation. He couldn't help it anyhow! Penguin – chan was his favorite buddy... Even his pajamas were designed after him!

So… it was true he _did_ miss his home sometimes, but…

It was only sometimes.

------------------------------------------------

After Naruto left the room, Haku started cooking. She had bought groceries from the town, and was currently boiling broccolis. She chopped them up nice and neat, and slid them in the boiling pot. The gourmet meal planned for Naruto tonight was a vegetarian-class ramen, fresh from the stove.

'_Eheheheh… A fair punishment. '_

It was no secret that Naruto _hated_ anything with plants in it… Especially _broccolis._ He had scrunched up his face in disgust to the point he had to massage them thoroughly to regain normal expression when he first saw them.

Haku softly giggled to herself as she remembered the times he went missing for 3 or 4 days, refusing to consume the green goods, but always eventually returning with a pained expression of extreme hunger.

'_Eeew! What in the name of kami is that? It looks like miniature trees! I ain't gonna eat no trees!' Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the steaming bunch of broccolis with an exaggerated expression of outrage._

_Haku smoothly ignored his outbursts, while picking a broccoli up and waving it in front of Naruto's face. 'Now now, Naruto. They are good for you… See, that's why you're still shorter than me! If you don't eat these, you'll never grow!'_

_Naruto blanched. 'Uggh, then I'll stay short! That green stuff looks disgusting, and smells like crap anyway! Why don't YOU eat them!'_

'_Fine, I will!' Haku took on a determined expression, and she took a bite. 'munch... crunch … see? They're tasty! Now give it a try!' Though Haku was barely keeping herself from hurling at the taste, she faked a smile nonetheless, and offered another one at Naruto._

'_No, I'll never!' Reaching the tones of desperation, Naruto powered up and fled high into the trees, in order to save his precious taste buds._

'_Naruto! Come back here!'_

As she still held the ever pleasant smile over her memory, a cold, merciless smile had suddenly overwritten and settled upon her lips. He had gotten away from her veggies before, but this time...

'_There'll be no escape…'_

And her evil giggles echoed throughout the room…

------------------------------------------------

Zabuza stood on top of his forest fortress, while his army, though small and composed of bandits and missing nins, still screamed fiercely in battle rage. He looked down upon them, while his eyes weren't on them at all. Tonight was the night the Wave Country will fall in his hands, with all its pathetic inhabitants inside.

'_I can almost taste my victory…' _Zabuza grinned darkly; already pleased by all the blood that would be spilled that night, though none had been spilt yet.

"My army! Tonight… IS THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER!"

His army roared back with equal, if not greater joy.

Indeed, blood would be spilled that night.


	3. Slaughter

--The segment takes place after 2 - 3 years after Haku and Naruto starts their journey, making them seven and six respectively. It is also after the Uchiha Massacre. --

------------------------------------------------

Under the platinum glow of the pale moon, the man's gleaming Sharingan eyes gazed upon the blond boy and his companion in his blank, unearthly gaze. While the man's Konoha ANBU uniform was slightly tattered, his pale skin revealed no flaw – not even a scratch despite the apparent ordeals the man must have gotten through. The only cut he possessed was on his forehead protector; where a huge deliberate gash sat menacingly, cutting the symbol of leaf horizontally in half. If one had even a miniscule knowledge of what the gash signified, then one would immediately know that the man is a missing nin – dangerous ninjas who abandoned their own village.

Of course, the petty details about this fearsome ninja mattered not to Naruto or Haku, whose concerns were one of their survivals.

The strong smell of death – that coppery smell that which makes your stomach twist in disgust – whirled about them, in that thick, dark forest that which occupied the outer boundaries of the great Stone Country. In this middle of nowhere, the man stood in silence while staring down at the children as if he was a grim reaper, trying to decide whether or not to send them to heaven or hell. All the while, the children could do no more than stick together in an instinctive gesture to support each other against the menacing aura of this intimidating man who stood before them. The children knew only one thing for certain – that this man was terrifying beyond imagination.

Then as if on some invisible queue, the man's almost imperceptible mouth slightly opened, allowing his near melodious voice to float out into the cold night air.

"You must be… Naruto-kun."

Started by the man's recognition, Naruto involuntarily flinched. Who was this man who knew of his cursed name? "W,who the heck are you! How do you know my name?" Naruto yelled back rebelliously despite the grave situation he was in. Naruto's hardened gaze stared valiantly back at the strange man, daring him to harm Haku or him – then somehow Naruto caught something unexpected in his opponent's red eyes – strange sense of… satisfaction? '_Huh…?' _But just as he was pondering upon this, the feeling had dissipated quickly as it had appeared, leaving Naruto to wonder if he had imagined it all. The red eyes of the stranger just stared back in silence, completely unreadable in its intensions or motives. All the while, his ominous commas around his pupil swirled and captivated the children's gazes. Try as they might, the children could not even move a muscle let alone avert their gaze from the man's hypnotic eyes. Before they knew it, the children were completely captivated by the eyes which seemed to draw them in – and with it, came uncontrollable fear.

Of course, the children's fears did not spring from nothing. Oh no, not at all - just few minutes prior (or was it seconds? Naruto could not tell) the mysterious man had instantly ended the lives of five masked nins unfortunate enough to meet the Uchiha Prodigy. Right in front of the children's very eyes, the man had remorselessly murdered the masked ninjas who had been tailing the unsuspecting children. Ever since Naruto's "defection" of Konoha, the masked hunter nins had proved to be very tenacious people. Strangely, the hunter nins did not do anything to capture the boy, but just merely observe – but it didn't do harm to neither Haku nor Naruto be on guard all the time.

Naruto was well informed about these men, out of sheer necessity. He was aware that there had been an order to capture the Kyuubi vessel _alive_, and that there would be a grave consequence if the vessel had been damaged in any way. That would probably explain the hunter nin's reluctance to engage in combat… and they were extremely tenacious to boot – this particular team had been tailing them for months already! It was a pure miracle that Naruto and Haku had even lasted this long against a team of fully trained elite ninjas such as Hunter nins. So, when they had been eliminated Naruto could not help but feel a bit relieved even though he still shuddered at the sight of remorseless murder.

Quite ironically, now that Naruto actually observed this mysterious man, he felt that this man who stood like a statue was an even a bigger threat than these masked hunter nins. Just like the old saying, '_Out of the frying pan and into the freezer.'_

While the boy had been observing the towering man, the man had been observing the boy in return. '_This boy… The Legacy of Fourth. He is not who he appears to be…' _The young man's eyes darkened slightly as his three Sharingan wheels spun and congregated into his pupils, signaling the beginning of the one of the most feared Doujutsu of all – the Mangekyou Sharingan. '_To reach the height…'_

As Naruto defiantly analyzed the man, Haku had been supporting him from behind, equally alerted and her brilliant mind reeling. The man in front of her was an amazing person – even though Haku's senses weren't honed and her abilities unskilled, the disturbing man had radiated such an aura that demanded obedience and fear. Haku then realized, if the man could bring forth such aura by just merely standing here, then how much powerful can this man be? The sheer amount of power he was radiating _now_ was enough to make her body freeze completely with fear alone… Haku did not want to think about what would become of her and Naruto if the man took hostility.

Then, intuitively sensing something had gone wrong, Haku suddenly wanted to scream out right there and then – but her body would not follower her command. Instead, it was all she could do to open her mouth and speak few words of warning to her oblivious companion. "Naruto – kun… w-we should r-run… this person… will kill us…" Haku whispered softly, her voice trembling with poorly concealed fear.

Unfortunately, she was too late in her warning.

Naruto seemed completely captivated as he stared deeply into the hypnotic gaze of the man in front of him. Strange, it was as if the eyes were trying to suck him into themselves... as if to devour his entire soul completely… '_I…can't look away… I… just can't…'_

Haku could not help but to grit her jaw in anger despite the situation, seeing the boy ignore her warning. Oh, how the boy infuriated her sometimes. Then suddenly, previous anger quickly forgotten, her grip on Naruto clothes tightened in renewed fear as she noticed the man's striking crimson eyes, unmistakable power imbedded in his icy gaze. Curiously, the man's eyes were shifting and swirling into something akin to a kaleidoscope she had seen few months back at a nameless village – only this time, much more menacing with a touch of deadliness. Haku's mind screamed, '_Do not look!'_ but she found that she did not want to obey her mind's orders… she only wanted to stare into these eyes forever… '_No, what am I doing!' _ Haku forced all her will into her eye lids in effort to close them, and yet all was in vein.

The world of the Tsukiyomi greeted Haku and Naruto with open arms.

"Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi's voice lacked any emotion, as he impassively performed the most feared Doujutsu onto the two children trembling before him. '_You will now re-live your most painful memories for 78 hours.'_

'_Ones responsible for your pains…'_

'_Hate them… Despise them…'_

'_Kill them…'_

Terrible shrieks of pain filled the cold night of the forest, never ending until the crack of dawn…

------------------------------------------------

**Alone in the World**

------------------------------------------------

**Slaughter**

------------------------------------------------

No alarms sounded as numerous bandits and thieves rushed into the streets, butchering anything that moved with gruesome techniques known to man. People's agonized screams echoed through out the streets, in stark comparison to the maniacal laughter of the perpetrators… Swords, clubs, axes, and even guns flashed everywhere, splashing the red liquid onto the streets of the Wave Country.

Children were killed without reason…

Women were slaughtered without exception…

The old were murdered helplessly…

…and as if to mourn, sky let loose a tender rain.

As a witness to these events, Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden mist, stood high above the town in a nameless tree, only chuckling in response. '_What beautiful night...'_

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"Run! We are under attack! Everyone must evacuate!"

A random medicine peddler screamed the message as he ran like a madman down the streets. Shoppers, merchants all looked up from what they were doing – begging, selling, stealing – and froze in confusion… until a bullet struck the frantic running man right on the back of his head, effectively killing him immediately. Silence reigned for a brief moment in lieu of the man's death, before people began to realize what had just happened right in front of their faces.

And so, chaos ensued.

Now everyone in the streets all ran frantically like madmen in panic and - in almost animalistic fear – stomped over anything that dared to get in their way. Small beings such as animals or children met an unfortunate and unspeakable end at the unforgiving feet of the mob. Though of course, such tragedies went unnoticed by the fearful mob as they valued their life over others; these people didn't have anything to lose except their own lives… because they've already lost everything else.

Within this heterogeneous mixture of death and fear, the assailants relentlessly continued their evil deeds – which mostly consisted of slaughtering whoever that came in their path with glee. All the other worldly things now gone before their minds, the only thing that mattered to the assailants as of now was the look of terror on the face of the victim's before blow of death silenced them forever.

Needless to say, evil reigned.

Amongst the chaotic population, Naruto stood rigidly in the midst of the fleeing crowd whilst wordlessly contemplating the ironic fate of human lives. '_Pitiful… so this is what becomes of mortals when everything comes down to survival.' _Quietly chuckling, he casually slid his hand on his forehead, and shook his head in amusement. _ 'To think I was no better…'_

Of course, that kind of distracted reminisces was a no-no in any battle field (or a slaughter ground… whichever). One of the enemies – a ronin samurai, deducting from his clothing and the huge katana he wielded – charged recklessly at the distracted blond child with his blooded sword raised high, ready to slice off the child's head off from the boy's shoulders. He obviously had thought the boy to be no match, even though there was an eerie aura about the boy. Ah, no matter. The boy was small, and the ronin was big – end of story. The ronin's eyes were clouded with joyous imagination, as the samurai anticipated the particularly unique and satisfying pleasure of sword biting flesh away. He thought, '_Just a moment later… just a little bit… and then!' _The ronin yelled in an almost devilish cry as his sword came ever so close to the boy's unguarded, slightly tanned neck.

'_Its over!'_

Unfortunately for the ronin, a hand punctured through his ribcages and cleanly through him, sending his brain blinding pain that foretold his demise. His wide, fearful eyes glanced down upon his attacker with sudden sober consciousness – and the roaming eyes of the damned found a boy no more than 12, drenched in the blood of the samurai, and his arm still within the chest and protruding out the back of the samurai's chest. The boy's face was shrouded in shadows of his spiking yellow hair, hiding all his facial features except…

… a pair of bestial crimson eyes – glowing in the darkness, flashing with hidden emotions.

The boy slowly retracted his red-painted hands from the dying samurai's chest, as if enjoying the every moment that caused unforgettable agony to the ronin. The samurai's face contorted in pure pain, as the ever slowly retracting hand suddenly propelled backwards and burst into another charging bandit's head.

Needless to say, the head of the bandit had seen better days.

Demon eyes blazing, the boy then proceeded to swiftly execute every opposing foe within his senses in a blur of motions. Every swipe brought down one or more person; every kick brought an end to struggling lives; every roar struck unimaginable fear into everyone unfortunate enough to have ears to listen.

The dying samurai saw his allies fall over like crushed weeds in a show of the boy's almost demonic dance, and in matter of seconds, no one was left alive… or rather, no one was still in one piece anymore. Most foes were ripped in two or more, and all the while the boy had _never _stopped; not even once. Though what struck the fading mind of the ronin as the most disturbing were the eyes of the blond boy. The demonic crimson eyes remained calm and stoic throughout the proceedings as if the boy was merely strolling down the street instead of bringing oblivion unto others with ruthless power.

As samurai's consciousness swiftly slipped away from his mind, he couldn't help but to shiver violently in fear for the last time in his life before him too, fell over lifeless like countless others.

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Bam!

'_What now…?' _ Haku mentally cursed at her uninvited guests as she paused for a moment to mourn over her lost dinner. Although Haku had enough skill to dodge the offensive swing effortlessly, the ramen did not share such fortune and had been knocked over by the reckless swing.

"Heh heh heh… Well look at what we have here boys! Hah, a pretty young thing." One of the assailants lecherously commented as he held his club in a threatening manner, brandishing the handle as if he was testing the feel for the weapon. "Here, kitty kitty kitty… we promise we won't hurt you… _much_." Bandits chuckled or smirked lecherously, taking another step towards the cornered form of Haku. Haku could see it clearly in their eyes – all of their lust, desire… and it angered her greatly.

"You… Do not come near me. I am warning you." Haku's eyes narrowed to mere slits as her chakra coiled wildly just below her iron fisted control. Her powers were _begging_ to be released, to cast oblivion unto ones who lusted after her for mere physical pleasure.

Though despite all her seriousness, the assailants shared another good chuckle at her attempted warning.

Still smirking like the cat that ate the canary, the club wielding bandit started to speak once more. "Oh ho ho, so I see this one packs a little fire. Well, I've always liked 'em feisty anyhow. What do you say boys?" Shouts and whistles of agreement erupted, encouraging the dangerous atmosphere to the next level.

Disgust washed over Haku in quads as she closed her eyes, willing herself to regain the calm that she had always favored to her…_wild_ side. Haku's blood began to boil as the assailants started to take more steps toward her, apparently aiming to intimidate her into submission.

"I will say this one more time. _Turn away._" Haku's words fell on deaf ears.

His malicious grin twisting into a scowl, the club wielding bandit spoke up again and this time raised his club as well. "You know… I've changed my mind… There's no point in playing with a defiant little girl." With that, his club began its descent towards Haku's head. "Learn your place, _bitch._"

Unexpectedly, Haku made no movements to dodge.

Haku's unconscious body fell forward as she curled up from the blow. Now lying on her face, blood seeped out from her head as her limbs twitched occasionally from the shock.

The bandits all shared another good chuckle, while some shared disappointed glances. Turning away from the twitching body, the club wielding one spoke up again. "Hahahah, it seems that this one was all talk. Though I have to admit, she had me pretty riled up. The way she dodged my swing before… I thought she was a ninja or something." The club wielding bandit decided to wipe the blood from his club on the still body of the dead girl, and spoke once more. "Whatever, we'll get another girl. After all, there are plenty of fish in the ocean." The club wielding assailant waited for his comrades to agree and respond to his remark, but none came. He had also failed to realize that his comrades were falling on the ground one by one, their neck cleanly sliced off without even a trace of struggles. No screams were made, except for the continuous chuckle of the ignorant leading bandit, who was ironically too much into his own folly.

At that moment, the deathly presence made itself known.

Pink and moist lips of flawless features whispered words of sultry tone into the ear of the started club wielding assailant, instantly freezing him with fear. "_Little boy… have you no shame?" _The ignorant club wielding bandit could not even tremble as his system completely refused to obey his mind's orders of retreat; instead, his eyes scanned over the bodies of his dead comrades involuntarily. Also, another part of him took an involuntary action and had decided to empty itself.

The deathly voice giggled, apparently greatly amused by the bandit's involuntary response system.

"_Poor thing. I guess you've never felt so scared before … Do not worry, I will now ease your discomfort."_

As soon as her whisper ended, bandit suddenly felt as if he was standing in a field of breezy meadows – it was a very peaceful feeling, he realized.

With the hypnotic peace still in mind, the bandit's entire body exploded in a fountain of crimson.

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'_The hell-'_

Uchiha Sasuke knocked out another opponent with another vicious upper cut to the chin, and then sent him flying with a powerful mid-air kick to his abdomen which resounded with a painful crunch. From corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Sakura and Hinata were both protecting Tazuna-san facing back-to-back, Hinata on the rear and Sakura on the front. Hinata had her blood limit Byakugan activated, her veins pumping chakra into her eyes, and imbuing her with the ultimate vision that was sought after by many. Sakura was in basic defending stance, and her kunai whipped out to lash out at anything that came in range.

The incomplete bridge had only one entrance – which was why the bridge was an _incomplete bridge_ – and each sides of the bridge seemed grim – it was either fight your way through the entrance, or be fish chums.

How did this happen? Well, Team 7 was ambushed when escorting Tazuna-san to the construction site while Kakashi and Kurenai nowhere to be found. Most likely doing what jounins did the best - lazing off.

Needless to say, Sasuke was _not _in his best mood. Not that he was ever in his best mood, mind you. These 'bandits'… were ridiculously weak. Although, numbers _did_ make huge differences - they were in a _swarm, _while team 7 was a measly 3 man teamEach wave of appositions came around in twenties; everyone was equipped with various unhealthy utilities, most of them very pointy, and swinging them around like some crazy animals. It was quite an irritation, which reminded Sasuke of a bad itch.

Odds were about thirty to one… not a very hopeful looking situation for mere genins.

However, Sasuke was no mere genin.

Charging once more, Sasuke completed various seals which were soon accompanied by a huge breath and exhale of incredibly hot flame, which burnt a cluster of humans into a nothing but crisped and mutilated piles of death. When the attack finished, Sasuke slightly breathed, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

Seeing their allies being burnt alive, the 'leftover' fighters quickly fled the scene while screaming like girls at the top of their lungs, which made Sasuke's grim face even more grim, if that was even possible. Seeing his share of enemies was finished and done for, Sasuke now turned to help the girls, though he shouldn't have bothered.

All opponents have been easily crushed, either through basic melee or ancient Hyuga Jyuken. These girls were _not_ to be underestimated.

"Are you guys ok?" Sasuke asked the slightly panting girls and an amazed-looking Tazuna-san, while he himself slightly panted at the excessive amount of chakra usage. Receiving tired nodes from all three present, Sasuke checked himself to see if he had any wounds, and found rather disappointing scratches particularly on his back and legs. _'Wounds from these weaklings… I'm still too weak.'_

Sasuke, now sensing his sensei's familiar chakra not very far from the bridge, he commanded his team. "Hinata, Sakura. Escort Tazuna – san back to the house, and make sure no harm comes to him. I will go and aide Kakashi-sensei."

Nodding in confirmation, everyone headed to their destinations.

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Despite the popular consensus of the majority, Hatake Kakashi was _not _lazing off at all. In fact, he was facing down a very powerful missing nin from the Hidden mist, with his special Sharingan eye uncovered and reeling. He had to admit, it was a real advantage to have a Sharingan in a one on one combat, especially due to its ability to copy your opponent's movement flawlessly and other useful attributes.

Nonetheless, the real credit had to go to Momochi Zabuza, for holding out this long against _an elite jounin_ like Kakashi.

When Kakashi noticed all the commotion going about in the town, he had gone into the forest where he sensed a quite a large chakra deposit in the trees… namely Zabuza, who was casually sitting on a tree branch. It was just on the outskirts of the town, where he watched his little army go about and do horrid things.

Of course, Kakashi had no choice but to engage in combat.

Zabuza's jutsus were mostly water-based, and most of which Kakashi already knew and copied before. Matching jutsu for a jutsu, both fired off devastating attacks, each time neutralizing each other and creating stalemate. Kakashi then proceeded to use his infamous 'mind-reading' Sharingan, but thick fog created by Zabuza was doing an excellent job of concealing _everything_, while rendering Kakashi's sharingan virtually useless. Judging the situation as it was, Kakashi had reluctantly deactivated his Sharingan, and had slid down his headband which worked like a patch. Now, it was all up to gut instincts – the fog was indeed thick, a very powerful blow to one's sight.

The fact that Zabuza was a master in the art of Silent killing didn't help the matter very much either.

'_To the left,' _Kakashi thought as he sidestepped the gigantic man-cleaver that was clearly aimed for his neck, attempting to slice his head off his shoulders. Fortunately for Kakashi, he had already anticipated the move through his honed senses.

'_I hope Kurenai's doing fine… She tends to rely on her genjutsu _way _too much…'_

Kakashi narrowly dodged another swing attempting to slice off his thighs, which would have cost Kakashi's mobility greatly had the blow connected. Naturally, the jounin became annoyed by this situation. It was similar to a stalemate, though the scale was tipped to Zabuza's favor greatly – Kakashi had tendency to rely quite heavily on his sight more than his other 5 senses - not that the others weren't as well trained, but it was a matter of honoring the legacy of his deceased friend – Obito's Sharingan.

"Oi, Zabuza. Let's end this already. We're dragging this off _way_ longer than it should have taken." Kakashi called out in the mist, receiving deep chuckles in return.

"Heh heh heh heh… Kakashi… what's the hurry? You should be enjoying the battle! The thrill! After all, the game had only just begun…" Zabuza's deep voice reverberated throughout the fog, as if he spoke from all directions. Kakashi knew that Zabuza was one of the best ninja there is when it came to the art of Silent Killing, and what's worse was that he was fighting on Zabuza's terms – both in situation and environment.

'_I don't have much time to spare… for all I know, Zabuza may not be the head figure of this little operation… I need to finish this fast.'_

"Enough talk, Zabuza. There's no room for meaningless chitchats on battlefield. Prepare yourself!"

Charging straight ahead into the depths of the mist, Kakashi steeled himself as he expected brutal retaliations from the huge Kubikiri Houchou which Zabuza wielded.

None came.

Instead, the thick fog had dissipated. What Kakashi had found was an apparently delusional Zabuza swinging his Kubikiri Houchou madly into the forest, blindingly swinging his sword around like a crazy maniac at thin air.

"What jutsu is this? I will find you Kakashi! Show yourself!" Zabuza yelled on top of his lungs as he swung around madly, trying to find his supposedly invisible opponent. He then started going the opposite direction from where Kakashi was standing. Puzzled, Kakashi tilted his head in confusion. Then it hit him.

'_Genjutsu… Ah, it must have been Kurenai. I see she had no problems…'_

"Kurenai – san, I presume you had little trouble?" Kakashi called out, knowing the female kunoichi was near. Her chakra presence was well hidden, but still had some difficulties escaping the honed senses of Kakashi.

In response, Kurenai jumped down from one of the nearby trees and landed next to Kakashi with a grace of a jounin kunoichi. "No problems indeed. They were all just minor trash, anyways. Nothing of noteworthy… except this one. Zabuza, I believe. Correct? An A-rank missing nin in the bingo book, famous for his attempted rebellion against the Mizukage." Kurenai replied, still scrutinizing the frantic figure of a blind Zabuza as his Kubikiri Houchou swung madly upon innocent trees.

"Yes… What did you do to him anyway? He seems quite… captivated." Kakashi noted as Zabuza proceeded to cut a random tree in half for absolutely no reason at all, then proceeding to swing his sword in random directions. '_I wonder what kind of jutsu would put a _jounin_ into this kind of a state...' _It was frightening, to say the least.

Slightly smirking, Kurenai nonchalantly replied as if this was an everyday occurrence. Well, it probably _was_ an everyday occurrence for her, especially since Kurenai was a genjutsu specialist. "Ah, it was just a combination of _Gentei no Jutsu_ and _Ganbou no Bairitsu no jutsu_ – both chuunin levels, I believe. Gentei no Jutsu nullifies 3 of 5 human senses at the user's will… in his case, sight, hearing, and smell. It's quite an elementary genjutsu to dispel, though it works like a charm and it is hard to detect if the victim is already in such a condition the jutsu is trying to simulate – say, like the fog." Kurenai gestured towards the air which was once occupied with deadly Kirigakure no Jutsu, which gave Kakashi a hard time because of lack of visual information, effectively cutting off his Sharingan.

Eyeing the frantic Zabuza, Kurenai continued. "On the other hand, Ganbou no Baritsu no Jutsu is a jutsu of similar category – it amplifies the current desire or some sort of emotion of the target to incredible levels - enough for the victim to start deluding himself. I thought the combination would work perfectly on him, since he was already blinded by the fog already, and was relying upon his hearing to locate and calculate your position… and voila, you now have one less jounin to worry about." She struck a victorious pose, her hands on her hips.

Kakashi's sharingan and his normal eyes just blinked, staring at the delusional Zabuza. '_To think a combination of two chuunin level genjutsu would end a jounin level battle… Kurenai has really improved.' _Kurenai apparently found humor in his expression, and had chuckled. "It shouldn't last that long though. Usually, it'll only last few minutes if the victim is smart enough to figure it out… so you'd better finish things fast."

Breaking out of his reverie, Kakashi nodded. "Understood, should we dispose him?"

"Of course. After all, he _is_ an obstacle to the mission. But, you do the honors. I don't particularly want anymore bloods on my hand tonight." Casting slightly unnerved glances at the crimson spots on her quite unique jounin outfit, Kurenai readied her chakra for a jump into the trees. "Now, if you don't mind… I'm beginning to worry for _our_ genin team. Even though these thugs are nothing, our teams are only _rookie _genins; they are just kids." With that, Kurenai left as swiftly as she came.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say her maternal instincts are kicking in." Kakashi had dared to say that out loud, only after Kurenai had left the vicinity. Would he have still said that if she had been still present? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll?

We will never know.

Shaking his head to loose his random thoughts, Kakashi threw five kunais which had instantly and effectively pinned a rather helpless Zabuza into the trunk of a tree, completely immobilizing him. Unfortunately for Zabuza, he was still under the genjutsu when he was pinned, but he was very close to figuring it out. Zabuza had only been a tad bit late.

"Grr, so it was a damned genjutsu… -KAI!-" With a simple pulse of his chakra, Zabuza found his senses returning to him as quickly as the genjutsu had robbed him of it... only to find he had been completely rendered completely immobile.

"Well, damn…"

His sharingan now whirling once more, Kakashi took a kunai out of his pouch and stared directly into the wild, frantic eyes of Momochi Zabuza. "Zabuza… it all ends here now."

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'_Where is he!'_

Moving through the streets with stealth and agility, Sasuke growled in frustration. Searching for his perverted sensei was like trying to find a needle in a haystack… how can that lazy assed jounin be so elusive! It was absurd to even think about how hard it was to find the man. Furthermore… there was an eerie feeling in the air.

'_It's too quiet. The bandits cannot annihilate a city like this... They're just too incompetent.' _Sasuke's thoughts wandered as he noted the silence in the air – silence dominated, excluding the chilly wind whooshing besides his ears.

Meeting a turn at a corner, Sasuke saw something he thought he wouldn't see again in his life time.

Raw carnage.

'_Wh… what is this…?'_

Remains of what once was human littered all across the narrow street, painting the walls with crimson life. To Sasuke, this scene seemed much too familiar to the horrors he had witnessed only few years ago, a feat achieved by none other than his own blood kin, his aniki.

'_Everyone… killed mercilessly… Could **he** possibly be here…?'_

Many had their limbs distorted beyond recognition; it was barely tolerant to even say that they were remains of what once were humans. Among them, not only had the bandits died, but civilians as well – a little kid's dissociated head had clearly been a proof of that. If Sasuke had thought in a more rational sense, he might have figured that _his aniki _did not kill this way – although, such realization was currently impossible for Sasuke as he was haunted by the image of his lifelong goal – death of the one who he had once called brother.

'_Itachi… where are you…'_

Menacing aura poured over the figure of Uchiha Sasuke, who stood rigid with barely contained hatred. All the emotions that had been stored up in his system begged for release upon the possibly present Uchiha Itachi.

'_I **will** kill you…' _

Unbeknownst to the young Uchiha, his cold onyx eyes shimmered into red hue, each possessing two commas – the true Sharingan has awoken.

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The blond boy, now covered in crimson mass of gore, stood alone in the field of dead bodies. His shredded outfit barely clung to his body, possessing cuts too many to count. Though, despite the obvious vestige of attempts made at the boy's life, the boy possessed no wound of his own – between the cuts of his clothing, slightly tanned skin revealed no injury of any type, and remained smooth as ever. If a bystander had witnessed this scene, he probably would have said the blond boy was the sole _survivor_ of this horrendous massacre. Of course, that was not the case.

Naruto was the perpetrator, not the victim.

Looking down at his bloody hands, Naruto's unnatural crimson eyes narrowed as he fought the urge to lick the fluid of life. Bile threatened to rise from his throat at the mere thought of such action, yet his stomach churned in hunger for the liquid all the same.

This was what Naruto had to live with – now that the great furball had gone and passed, or rather had been 'absorbed' into his very psyche, he had been constantly been bombarded with memories, emotions, and urges that were not of his own.

Not to mention the killer headache that plagued him to this very moment.

He supposed this was a small price to pay for the power he had gained in exchange, but that didn't mean that he had to _like_ it. The bloodlust the Kyuubi no Youkai had contained was unfathomably immense; a seemingly unquenchable thirst that threatened to destroy Naruto's sanity along with his humanity if he ever gave in. Fortunately for Naruto, he had been able to get by... so far. Naruto owed a lot to meditation.

But these days… the urges seemed to come back even stronger than before, forcing his mind into a stage which could be compared to a primitive ape man.

Trying to shake off his ponderings, Naruto scrunched up his eyes in an attempt to block out the unnecessary temptations around him.

There was blood _everywhere._

The once brown and tarnished walls of the markets were now beautifully colored in a crimson red that burned into Naruto's mind, constantly tempting him let himself go to the great power sealed within him. The sweet power enticed him far better than any other incentives in the world ever could; tantalizing Naruto with promise of destruction to everything he laid his eyes upon.

Though, as much as the notion was appealing, Naruto could never afford to give in. He had no illusions about the power that lurked within him; both depthless and endless, the might of Kyuubi no Youkai wasn't something to be messed around with, even if the power felt so _good_ to use. '_I mustn't give in.' _The wave of nausea then decided to make its spectacular appearance, which often accompanied Naruto after excessive use of the demonic youki.

'_Ugh… I hate headaches…'_

Therefore Naruto was quite glad when his enhanced hearing picked up something that distracted him enough from his apparent headache.

'_Ah… a paired interval of footsteps... so it is a human.'_

The footsteps were still quite far away – judging from the sound of the steps, Naruto concluded that this person was roughly half a mile away, apparently frantically searching for something. He could hear the person's ragged and irregular breathing pattern – which could be depicted as fear or excitement. The unique sound of his clothing brushing against the wind indicated that this person was apt in stealthy movement, which could only mean one thing: this person was a shinobi.

'_Could it be ones from this afternoon?'_

Regardless, the fact remained that there was still a person alive in the vicinity that he needed to take care of.

None must live.

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Now only a whirl of movements eyes cannot follow, Haku blurred across the roof tops to make her way towards the familiar chakra that inhabited the air, bringing forth waves of mass panic from already troubled average citizens down below.

Haku was strangely unaffected.

'_I must find him,'_ Haku thought to herself urgently. '_He can't control the power yet, and might lose himself in the process…'_ The mere thought of losing the boy brought unbearable pain to her heart, as she gritted her teeth in resolve and moved even faster than she had before. '_That must not happen.'_

Sensing that she was close, Haku now jumped down swiftly onto the streets below only to be greeted by a sight that must have appeared straight from hell.

Stray limbs lay on the sides of the streets, innocent brutally slaughtered or murdered by what appeared by clawed hands. Blood was everywhere and devil seemed to- '_Yare yare, nothing new.'_ Instead of focusing on the gruesome scene, Haku started looking for the tell tale sign of her companion. Haku walked over to a dead body, then dipped her index finger in the pool of blood of the fallen. '_These seem pretty recent,'_ she thought with some hope, '_He couldn't have gotten very far.'_

Then a stray thought came into her consciousness – '_I… do not feel sadness for the loss of these lives? Am I already that use to it now?'_ True enough, Haku could only feel a slightly detached emptiness at the sight which greeted her.

Haku could not hold back her shudder as the prospect of her emotions struck her with immense sadness.

'_I… there's no time for this now. Naruto may need my help,'_ Haku grasped control of her emotions once more, ruling them with iron fisted control which allowed no freedom. '_If I am to walk side by side with Naruto, then I cannot afford to have any emotions…_

'… _I must become a tool.'_

Haku's obsidian gaze hardening, she took off once more towards the center of the malevolent chakra.

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To be Continued…

Ahem, so hi. It has been a while with this fic, hasn't it? (cowers in a corner) Heheheh. No excuse there, I just got carried away by the tides of life. What else can I say:

Anyway, I think I'll be able to write fics from time to time… nothing like the last submersion though.

Ah well, I hope you enjoyed the little chap. A bit on the short side, but hey – my other fic is up too, so it's all good.

Next chapter: Clash between Sasuke and Naruto, and conclusion to Kakashi versus Zabuza! What of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals? And where does Haku fit into all of this...?


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